Til the Casket Drops
by Simply Paranoia
Summary: The choice between life and death is simple. Everyone wants to live and see another day. Destruction and death attack Harry and Hermione, and they have no choice but to go back and save the ones that they love, in a different time where evil was starting to thrive. Originally named De Amor Tempore
1. The Request

**Thank you for choosing to read my story. **

**Just to let y'all know, some reviews might just seem weird to you. The reason is, is because I had deleted a lot a chapters to start with the third one and re-do some things and I took things out. If you have any questions feel free to say so in the reviews or PM me.  
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**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter  
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><p>The ground was ice cold, while fire burned in her eyes. Destruction after terror was all she saw. Life was scarce, no one alive was seen. She crawled weakly around, in an attempt to regain her strength. Her chest felt like it was being weighed down by an unknown force. And, as though dust flew into her mouth, she was forced to cough. Her weak body coughed and it made her cough out her blood into her own hands, but it did not matter.<p>

She called out, hoping for something, anything. Instead, she had to cough again.

"Mudblood up for another round? I thought you were dead!" A woman's voice shrieked. Hermione rolled her body around and saw Bellatrix Lestrange, and she cringed in fear.

"No!" A recognizable voice shouted. Hermione closed her eyes and waited. A spell was blown, but she sensed a shield go around her body. She had to open her eyes and she saw right above her, the boy who lived, who is going to live another day.

"You bitch!" He shouted towards Bellatrix who cackled mercilessly. Bellatrix pulled up her left dress sleeve, revealing her dark mark. Harry was boiling in rage, and he shouted the first spell that came to his head, "Sectemsempra!"

Bellatrix was shot with full force to the ground. Her body split into several cuts and blood gushed out of her body.

Then she shouted, "The Dark Lord will get you, Potter! And the little mudblood!"

Bellatrix cackled as her body bled and Harry stared on with fear as Hermione was still lying on the ground, bruised and broken. Harry removed the shield he used to protect Hermione and knelt down next her.

"Hermione," he said as he brushed some of her bushy hair out of her face.

"Harry is every one all right, he's not coming right?" She asked weakly.

"No, just those damn death eaters. There weren't enough of us to defeat them, we had only you, me, Lupin, Tonks, Mr. Weasley, Fred and Ron. I think this was his attempt to weaken me, killing all of you." Harry said confidently with fear and sadness laced in his words. Bellatrix cackled evilly in the background and she suffered her last breaths.

The Burrow was burned to a crisp on the ground. Ginny and Mrs. Weasley had gone to Shell Cottage for news updates on the rest of the Order from Bill and Fleur. Only Harry, Ron, Hermione, Mr. Weasley, Fred, Tonks and Lupin were at the Burrow discussing plans for the rest of the war. Dozens of Death Eaters had come to overthrow them unexpectedly. They had gone through the wards, with difficulties, that were set up by the Order. Ron was the first to die, a blast of green light was shot onto his chest once the Death Eaters had blasted the Burrow's door down, and he had fallen on the ground, with his now empty blue eyes. Hermione had screamed and lunged for him, but Lupin had forced her to go on and save herself. Lupin had said it was for Harry, and died without another word.

She had ran as fast as she could firing spells at every Death Eater she saw pass her way, until she was shot from behind with the Cruciatus curse and her wand had flown out of her hand. Millions of needles pierced her skin, her skin felt as though it was on fire. Screams of terror exited her mouth as Bellatrix Lestrange laughed and laughed.

"Look who I've got here, Potter and Weasley's little mudblood whore!" She had shrieked giddly. The pain of the Cruciatus lasted and lasted, and there was no way she could have put a stop to it. She blacked out after what had felt like a lifetime. Bellatrix cackled and tossed Hermione's body through the air, shouting victory screeches, thinking that Hermione was dead, and had moved on.

Hermione recalled those blasted memories and began to weep out her sorrows.

"Ron!" She moaned.

Harry patted her back and rubbed circles. She finally gave Harry a good look and saw that he was bloodied and bruised; it was as though he was hit with every curse imaginable.

She reached her weak arm out and put her hand on his shoulder, "We have to get you help! You're all injured!"

"You're worse than me, Hermione," he said and hugged her as she wept and Harry's eyes let out a few tears.

"Harry!" She cried, "Where's everyone else?"

It took him awhile before he answered and he sighed in defeat, "They are dead, we weren't ready. At least Mrs. Weasley and Ginny has not come back yet," and he began to cry more, "Ron was my best mate Hermione, and Mr. Weasley, Tonks, Fred, and Lupin. Everyone is dying because he wants me, not them, but me. Hogwarts is not even safe because of me, nowhere is safe where I go."

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><p>A year had gone on since the end of their sixth year when Albus Percival Brian Wulfric Dumbledore died. Dumbledore had let out few clues where the next horcrux was located, and Harry was left stranded. He had at least found the real locket that R.A.B. took originally, and had it destroyed.<p>

A year had gone on as Voldemort kept regaining power over others. He infiltrated the ministry, and Harry became a wanted man. Raids of terror stroke whenever the Death Eaters came, people were murdered ferociously, as though The Death Eaters were hungry men.

Voldemort had announced to the muggles of his magical powers, so the muggles bowed before those with the wands. Most muggles hid in fear of the snake-man, while others sought to join him. Though, some continued on with their normal lives, as though it did not happen. Vernon and Petunia Dursley were murdered in cold blood when Voldemort stalked them looking for Harry. Only Dudley escaped and went into hiding.

Today was a fateful day. Ron had desperately wanted to see his mother and father again after all of the horcrux hunting. Harry had also had those yearns for motherly love, and eventually agreed with him. Hermione felt that this was not a good idea, and expressed her opinions, but she was stupidly outvoted by the boys. Molly Weasley had greeted them with tears starting to brim her eyes, thanking God that they were alive. She fed them with as much food as she could. She had already made plans to go to Shell Cottage to talk with Bill and Fleur about inside information that Bill had received at Gringotts. Ginny had persisted on going along with her, and Molly had given in. George had gone back to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes for some late business calls while Fred stayed home helping out. Lupin and Tonks were over for dinner and Arthur had come home early from work with fears he would be fired because of Voldemort's reign.

The Death Eaters had come at eight o'clock, and they had stood no chance.

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><p>"Harry, if it's anyone's fault, it is his. Only him! You have a power he doesn't! Love!" Hermione weakly shouted.<p>

"And what is love worth! How can I love when the people I love turn up dead!" Harry yelled furiously. "I'm sorry Hermione, this cannot happen anymore."

"Harry! Hermione! What happened! I am gone for a short time and Death Eaters come! Where is everyone else?" Molly Weasley had apparated to the scene with Ginny and came running towards them.

"Dead." Hermione weepily answered through her uncontrollable tears, "They are all dead. I thought I was dead, but then I saw Harry."

Ginny screamed and fell on the ground crying and Molly's eyes starting flowing with tears as she rubbed Ginny's backside soothingly. Molly screamed why and hugged Ginny around her middle.

Through Molly's cries, she managed to reach into her pocket and take out a letter and cry, "Take this!"

Harry approached her and took the letter and as he and Hermione cried, they read it together:

_Dear Harry, Ron and Hermione,_

_Clearly by now you are back at the Burrow with Molly Weasley. I gave her this letter, for I trusted her with it. Now yes, a year had passed since my death by now. I am dead because of the curse on my hand from the horcrux ring; it was planned so I would not have to suffer before I die. You have waited a year for this letter since I wanted to give you three a chance to find all of the horcruxes, which clearly has not been done, and Voldemort apparently is not dead. _

_Enclosed in this letter is a Plan B option. Do not keep reading unless you have no other choice, for inside is classified ministry information._

_Time travel is a delicate magic that when tampered with can cause any type of change. Voldemort must be stopped. Too many are dead or going to die at his hands. Life must be changed for the better. In order to do that you must change the past._

_Yes, you think I am a crazy old fool, in fact, many do. The ministry has been experimenting for years to create another device for longer lengths of time travel, like the time turner. They want to go back to times in the past and study those who lived then and be able to come back when they are done. Of course I have perfected it. It is a prototype and has not yet been tested, so it may not be able to bring you back to your present time once you are in 1946. If it can bring you forward in time, the furthest it can go is this current time. If it makes you feel better I have no doubts in my magical capabilities._

_Yes, 1946, the year Tom Riddle turns 20. He will definitely have both the diary and the ring horcruxes made. You must find and destroy them. You must get close to him in order to kill him. He does not know you or have ever heard of you. If you meet him, he will be curious of you and want to get close to you three. Let him. _

_Lie that you three went to Beauxbatons, make up any lie to any question he may ask. In that time he will be working at Borgin and Burkes. That is where you will meet him. I cannot plan everything out for you, that is the basic idea of what you must do. I have no idea how long it may take you, maybe years. _

_For everyone else in your time, they will never know who Voldemort is, if you do everything correctly and murder him._

_Enclosed is the device for you to travel back in time, it is simple enough to use, simply write in the correct year. _

_Sincerely _

_Albus Percival Brian Wulfric Dumbledore._

"This is amazing, we can, we can, save everyone from the terror that is Voldemort. Harry! Your parents will be alive! Ron, Lupin, Tonks, Fred, Mr. Weasley, Dumbledore, Sirius, Neville's parents will be sane, everyone who died in the first war! This is amazing! Oh Harry we must!" Hermione said through her tears.

"My parents-," Harry croaked.

"Good luck," Molly cried, "Please save my family."

Ginny stared at the lot in utter confusion for she did not read the letter.

"Mum, what's going on?" She asked with tears still streaming down her face.

"Oh, you and I will never know," She said with a huge grin as tears continued to stream down her eyes and she hugged her only daughter again.

"Harry, Hermione, please succeed. Let Arthur and my children live," Molly begged as a farewell with her hands locked around the other. Hermione locked eyes with Molly and nodded her head stiffly.

Hermione noticed the strange device still inside the envelope. She grabbed it and noticed it was a locket on a chain. A small rectangular shaped hold was on the outside where Hermione figured was where you wrote the date. She conjured a quill out a thin air, pulled Harry close to her and put the chain on her and Harry. She wrote 1946 and they disappeared and time went blank.

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><p><strong>Thank you for reading<strong>

**Please read and review**

**-Simply Paranoia**


	2. Dreams are a Funny Sensation

**Once again, thank you so much everyone for reading! This chapter is my weakest, but please keep reading after! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**

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><p>Chapter 2<p>

Hermione opened her eyes and saw nothing but plains of grass circling around her. The Burrow was gone. She looked to her right and saw Harry standing there with a look of amazement in his tear strewn eyes. They were still connected together by the chain, but neither of them made a move to get it off.

"It worked Harry, the Burrows gone, it must have," Hermione stated after a while, her tears still traveling down her pale cheeks.

"Time travel, Merlin," Harry answered, "The time travel was one thing, but do you really think that we are in 1946?"

"We must be. One thing is good though, Grindelwald is locked up in Nurmengard so we do not have to worry about any threats," Hermione said.

"I see, but are you still hurting?" Harry asked worriedly.

"Yes, Bellatrix's crucio is very long-lasting," Hermione said. Tears continued to well up in her eyes; the pain was unbearable, both from the Cruciatus and the death of her friends, "Are you?"

"Yeah," he answered sadly, with tears beginning to go down his face as well.

"Harry, I want Ron back with me. I need him, I don't think I can live without him," she said quietly.

"Hermione, I miss him too. He's my best mate, I love him too," Harry paused and then asked,

Harry came over to Hermione and hugged her and the remained that way for a while, crying and hugging out the sorrows. They had no idea what was going to happen to them.

"Where should we go?" Harry asked as they were still hugging.

"The Leaky Cauldron," Hermione suggested quietly, "We could apparate there, can't we?"

"I guess," Harry said, "But let me clean ourselves first." So Harry took out his wand and waved it around them saying the spell, scourgify, and their clothes were clean.

Hermione nodded her head and she seized Harry's arm. In a swish they were gone, and left the area that will belong to the Weasley family.

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><p>The Leaky Cauldron was just like it is in 1998, small, musty and dirty. Tom the barman sat behind the bar reading the Daily Prophet. He looked much younger than in their time, he was no longer bald but had healthy mounds of wavy, sandy blonde hair. A few stragglers were sipping butterbeers at their tables. Harry and Hermione appeared right on top of one of the stranger's tables.<p>

"Get down from there will ya! You're scaring me customers!" Tom called from the bar. Tom the barman was right, the table they had appeared at held one scared and startled customer.

"I'm sorry sir, we just apparated and did not mean to land on the table," Hermione apologized as she climbed down from the table with Harry following her down. She wiped excess tears from her face and took in a deep breath to calm herself and she still held onto Harry's arm. She walked towards the bar with Tom sitting their looking at her gruffly.

"What do yeh want?" He asked.

"A room sir, we have no place to stay. We do not know how long we will be staying, but you will get full pay for the length of time we do." Hermione said while sniffling.

"Hand over five galleons now for tonight and each night you stay," Tom decided.

Hermione grabbed the sack of money that Harry was holding, which was given to them previously by Mrs. Weasley, and handed over five galleons. Tom the barman stared at the coins and reluctantly handed them over a key to their room.

"Upstairs and two doors to the right," He said.

"Thank you sir," Hermione answered. Harry and her retreated away and ran upstairs and inside their new room. Inside the room it was very dirty and dusty. Only one large queen-sized bed lay in the middle of the room, fit enough for two people.

Hermione sighed through the tears that still were coming. She used her wand and made the bed into two neat separate ones. Both she and Harry were exhausted and weak, so they lay down on their separate beds. Hermione wept and cried herself to sleep.

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><p>"<em>Hermione!" A voice called out to her. It was familiar but Hermione could not place it. The shouts grew louder in her ears; her ears rang and blasted the voice throughout her ears. She was in the middle of a meadow and she could see the Burrow in the distance. A familiar tall and lanky figure with blazing red hair came running towards her.<em>

"_Ron! It's really you!" She shouted and ran towards him with tears spilling out of her eyes, "I missed you, but you will be back. Harry and I will kill Voldemort when he has fewer defenses."_

"_I won't Hermione, I'm gone," He said with an emotionless face. _

"_But Harry and I-," She was interrupted before she could finish her sentence._

"_You do not know what will happen, Hermione, but right now I'm gone. If you kill him, nothing will be as it was. I am in peace Hermione," He stated, "Remember that I love you Hermione, always and forever." _

"_I love you so much Ron, I'm so sorry," Hermione said crying. Ron approached her and gripped her shoulders and stared into her eyes._

"_We will be reunited once more. I want you to grow old, have babies and be happy, Hermione. Forget about me," Ron said, his blue eyes building up tears._

"_I will never forget you," Hermione said, "Never." _

_Ron hugged her tightly around her middle and she squeezed him back. He pulled apart for a second and kissed her on the lips._

"_I wish I could be with you and Harry, Hermione," Ron sighed and he kissed the top of her head. _

"_I want you with us," Hermione stated staring into his eyes, "Come back with me."_

"_I can't," Ron said and he clutched her hands. Then he leaned down and enveloped her in a passionate kiss which she eagerly returned. They parted and Hermione gasped as Ron began to disappear slowly from her sight._

_He was gone as he whispered, "I love you."_

_She collapsed into a lump onto the ground and let all of her emotions spill out of her. _

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><p>Hermione awoke with a start, barely recalling her dreams from the previous night. Harry sat on his bed munching on hash browns and sipping pumpkin juice. Hermione looked at him with hunger in her eyes.<p>

"Where did you get that?" She demanded.

"Oh I went to a café in muggle London while you were sleeping, rather good stuff there, and I got the pumpkin juice from Tom. Do you want some?" Harry said.

"Sure," Hermione said sadly and she reached for the food. Harry handed her some hash browns and they ate in peace. She savored every bite to fill her empty and scar wounded stomach. The last time she ate was fifty two years into the future, right before Ron died. He died with a full stomach, like he always wanted.

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><p>"<em>Ron?"<em>

"_Yeah Hermione," Ron answered while eating Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans._

"_What if we die, because of this war, or you die? What will happen?" Hermione asked urgently._

"_I don't know, but I just hope I die with a full stomach after one of my mum's delicious meals, so I die with warmth in my body." Ron replied._

"_That's so sweet.' Hermione said giggling._

"_What about you?" Ron asked with a curious look._

"_I want to die with the one I love."_

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><p>"Hermione, can you just imagine my parents alive and well!" Harry said, alerting Hermione of real life and taking her away from her trip down memory lane. Hermione realized that the fact of his parents hopefully coming back, kept him brightened.<p>

"I know! It is rather amazing, but what if we are here to lead him into becoming Voldemort, what if that's why we are here, and the future can never be changed?" Hermione pondered with him. Her thoughts before had led her in that direction, the direction into doubt.

"If that were true, why would Dumbledore send us?" Harry countered.

"How would Dumbledore even know? He said he did not try it out!" Hermione yelled. "What if we were never meant to win this way?"

"I do not know Hermione; I'm not a bloody seer!" Harry shouted. Hermione looked appalled and upset at Harry's outburst and she began to weep again, "I'm sorry Hermione, it's just I really want my parents, Ron, Sirius, Lupin, Fred, Mr. Weasley, everyone who died because of Voldemort!"

"I know Harry, I do too. I'm just evaluating all of the possibilities, because we just do not know," Hermione said sadly as she cried, believing that she no longer had any hope for anything.

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading! Please review and story alert!<strong>

**Love, **

**Miss Caroline Potter**


	3. Meeting the Devil

**Thank you guys for reading! Please enjoy. This chapter had been re-done a bit too.**

**Disclaimer- I do not own Harry Potter**

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><p>Chapter 3<p>

Tom Marvolo Riddle sat behind the counter at Borgin and Burkes reading a book of the Dark Arts. Business was always slow there, but today he had to go to Hepzibah Smith's home at three o'clock, for she wanted to sell some goods that Mr. Borgin always enjoyed. Apparently she wanted to sell suits of Goblin-made armor. She doted upon Tom and always enjoyed his visits.

Tom was a good looking man who had pale skin with jet black hair and deep impenetrable dark eyes. His good looks allowed him to charm people and his intelligence made people believe that he one day would end up as Minister of Magic. When he applied for a job at Borgin and Burkes, many were appalled, especially his old professor, Horace Slughorn. Tom wanted much more than just being Minister.

He has planned a meeting with his Death Eaters, formerly known as the Knights of Walpurgis, to tell them his plans of muggle annihilation.

The door to the shop creaked open and entered a young couple. Tom looked at them curiously, for he thought that these two people did not belong in Knockturn Alley. They looked about his age, but he did not recognize them. The boy had light skin with jet-black hair with bangs covering his forehead and green eyes that were hidden behind his glasses. He stood taller than the girl, but he only looked around 5'7. The girl was short and petite with unmanageable bushy brown hair. He brown eyes were large and showed the pains she went through, they were the entrance to her soul.

The girl looked around the shop with large eyes. Her eyes lay on the Vanishing Cabinet and she turned and whispered to the boy who then turned to the Vanishing Cabinet himself.

"May I help you?" Tom finally asked. They looked shocked at his announcement in the room. They stared at him with wide eyes as though they were scared of him.

"Are you two alright?" He asked showing his perfect boy façade.

"Yes, um, we are fine, just browsing," the girl answered.

"May I ask who you are? It is just I have not seen you two around here before," he asked, curiosity of these two people overtook him and he had to ask.

"I'm H-hermione and this is Harry. We just moved here from France," The girl, now known as Hermione answered.

"Oh, but you do not have French accents, sorry for intruding, but I am just curious," Tom asked suavely.

"It's fine. We moved to France when we were ten, the time our parents got married. We are stepbrother and sister," Hermione replied. The boy, Harry, stood and looked at Tom with utter disgust. It looked as though he wanted to pull out his wand and murder him. He shuddered off that thought, he could not be killed.

"I am Tom Riddle, pleasure to meet you two. I hope your stay here will be enjoyable," Tom said in fake sweetness. He then turned back to his book and continued reading.

After a while Harry finally spoke, "We want to buy the Vanishing Cabinet."

Hermione looked at Harry with shock.

"We-we do?" She said startled.

"Well the cabinet costs twenty galleons," Tom said.

"Harry, we can't we need that money for other things," Hermione said persistently tugging on Harry's arm. Harry looked unhappy as Hermione ushered him out of the store.

Tom was utterly confused. These two people made no sense to him. They obviously were lying about being from France, Tom knew, for he lied all the time and could see past anyone. It all seemed rehearsed. Tom felt that he needed to know more about them.

"Harry, what were you thinking?" Hermione yelled at him. She pulled him out of the store to talk to him privately. "We cannot afford that, and you were staring at him oddly, he's not stupid! We only came to get a look at him!"

"He killed my parents Hermione, and so many others! I couldn't help it! That Vanishing Cabinet helped kill Dumbledore! If the Death Eaters did not come that night, he would have lived," Harry reasoned.

"Be quiet! If we succeed, none of that will happen!" Hermione shouted quietly.

"Sorry Hermione, sorry," Harry apologized. They were silent standing there for a while until Hermione's eyes grew wide.

"Harry, I just realized something! We do not have anything to destroy the you-know-whats with!" She whisper-shouted.

"Crap," Harry said, mostly to himself.

"We need the sword. I think we need to pay Dumbledore a visit," Hermione said and Harry nodded. They walked away and headed back towards the Eeylop's Owl Emporium.

Malfoy Manor stood proud and tall in the distance. Tom grew nearer and nearer, the gate stood and Tom walked through it as it turned into wisps of gray around him. He had planned a Death Eater meeting at the Manor where Abraxas volunteered his home. He entered the manor where his Death Eaters stood in the entrance hall.

"Hello," Tom greeted his followers.

"My lord," They all muttered.

"Mulciber!" Tom called out.

"Y-yes m-my lord," Mulciber stammered as he neared the future Dark Lord.

"I want you to find out all you can about a Harry and Hermione who moved here from France. They appeared at Borgin and Burkes today, I am very curious about them," Tom ordered. Mulciber nodded and stepped backwards.

The meeting continued with Tom asking them about their muggle killings. Many homes were raided for his Death Eater's fun. Tom was all in all, pleased, and he had fun crucioing the few Death Eaters who did not kill any muggles. Tom hoped the Mulciber would find out everything about the new mysterious additions to Diagon Alley.

Harry and Hermione entered Eeylop's Owl Emporium. They felt that they needed to send an owl to Dumbledore in order to retrieve the Sword of Gryffindor.

"May I help you?" The worker asked sweetly. She had light skin to compliment her incredibly long blonde hair and stood behind the counter stroking a tawny owl.

"Yes we would like an owl," Hermione answered.

"Oh take a look around and choose your favorite," the worker said with a smile.

Harry and Hermione walked around the shop looking at the different kinds of owls. Harry froze staring at a snowy owl, it reminded him of Hedwig. Hermione patted his shoulder and urged him away from that owl, it brought both of them memories of the night Hedwig and Mad-Eyed Moody died.

Hermione eyes lay upon a gorgeous black Pygmy Owl. Her eyes glowed and she desperately wanted it.

"Oh Harry, this one for sure," She pleaded. Harry turned and looked, he laughed. "What, what's so funny?"

"It looks just like Pigwigdeon," Harry said. Hermione sniffled, _Ron, _and she could no longer speak.

"Excuse me!" Harry called out to the worker. She walked over to them and Harry continued, "We would like this one please."

"Good choice, do you want a cage and some owl treats too?" The worker asked.

"Yes please," Harry answered.

"That will be three galleons, sixteen sickles and twenty seven knuts."

Harry nodded and handed over the money from the sack. They took their goods and left the store with their new friend in a cage under their arms, yet Hermione's thoughts could not leave the face of her beloved.

_Dear Albus Dumbledore,_

_Our names are Harry Potter and Hermione Granger. We need your help. We are from the future, we feel that we can trust you, for you sent us yourself. It is imperative that we have the Sword of Gryffindor to destroy objects of the Darkest Wizard to ever come on the Earth. They only way we could destroy him is if we receive the sword, it is the only thing that can destroy the objects. We cannot tell you what the objects are for it will reveal too much about the future._

_Thank you_

_Harry Potter and Hermione Granger_

Hermione, feeling satisfied with the letter, tied it to her new owl, who she named Strix. She told Strix to deliever it to Professor Dumbledore at Hogwarts and sent him out the window. She saw Strix become smaller and smaller as he flew until he became a speck of black in the distance.

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><p><strong>Thank you for reading! Please review and story alert!<strong>

**Love,**

**Miss Caroline Potter**


	4. No Basilisk Venom Here

**First chapter to be re-done! I hope you like. Also I sort of combined my previous chapters four and five. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter  
><strong>

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><p><strong>Chapter 4<strong>

Hermione was walking down Diagon Alley simply enjoying the familiar surroundings. She kept remembering her first visit to Diagon Alley as she walked down the street. It made her smile as she remembered her parents shocked faces when her wand chose her. Their faces were prices, and they were ones that Hermione would remember forever. She remembered being exposed to all of these witches and wizards and their genius inventions and, more importantly, their intriguing books. The thought of her parents, obliviated and in Australia made her eyes tear a little bit. She wiped the tears away from her face and sighed.

"Hello my dear," an unfamiliar voice sounded in her ear. She turned and stared at the unfamiliar man standing behind her. He was tall and lanky with brown hair. His eyes were ice blue and planted on his mouth was a sneer. She had absolutely no idea who he was, she had never seen anyone who looked like him before.

"Hello?" she said warily at the man, "Who are you?"

"None of your business." He said with a smirk. "Follow me."

"No," Hermione stated defiantly, and turned to walk away from this mysterious man. She felt an object jab at her back, "Hey!"

"You will come with me, or suffer the consequences of my choice of punishment." He sneered. Hermione gulped as he pushed her along with his wand. He led her to a deserted alleyway and stopped.

"Full name," He said in a demanding voice.

"Her-Hermione," she said, she had yet to develop a fake last name.

"Crucio!" he shouted, "I said full name!" Hermione was knocked to the ground and split into spasms of undesirable pain. It brought back painful memories. The night Bellatrix Lestrange tortured her at Malfoy Manor and the Burrow, and the scar that is forever imprinted on her arm. She refused to utter one sound that would delight him though. Bellatrix's crucio was more powerful than this man's. She could face him.

"H-her-Hermione Brown," She spluttered out, thinking of Lavender Brown. Hermione did not even know if Lavender was alive or not, and it pained her to think that Lavender was dead back in her time.

"Where did you come from?" The man ordered.

"France," she said, keeping with the same alibi.

"Lies, Crucio!" He screamed. Hermione, in the pains of her torture did not utter one single sound. That fact must have made him angrier as he tried to curse her more powerful. He obviously tried to bring more hate into it, but he failed. When he stopped she spoke again.

"It's the truth!" She lied, "I moved to France when I was ten after my mother married my step-father!"

"Why are you here?" He asked calmly.

No answer.

"I said, why are you here!" He yelled. He put his hand over his face, and with him being distracted, Hermione gathered her strength and stood up. She walked up to him as he smirked and stared at her. When he least expected it, she kneed him in the groin.

"God dammit! You little bint!" He shouted in pain.

"Never talk to me again," Hermione threatened. She pulled out her wand and said, "Obliviate," erasing all of the memories he had of her. He looked blank and confused, but anger pulled at his features when he looked at her, holding him under wand point.

She groaned and casted a stupefy curse on him to knock him out for the time being. She decided to leave him be because she just knew that he was sent by the one she was here to murder.

* * *

><p><em>Dear Mr. Potter and Ms. Granger,<em>

_Since I have no recollection of your existence, nor have I met you I do not trust you with the sword of Gryffindor. Also I am surprised you did not contact Armando Dippet, the headmaster, who has the sword in his possession. Of course you did say I sent you back in time. I believe you of course, but I wish to meet with you two. How does noon sound for today? If I and Professor Dippet meet with you we may trust you with the sword. Rubeus Hagrid, our gamekeeper in training will be outside at the gates waiting for you two._

_Sincerely_

_Albus Percival Brian Wufric Dumbledore._

Harry finished reading the letter to her. Hermione had gone back to their room in the Leaky Cauldron and Harry had been standing in the middle of the room holding the letter. Excitement had bubbled in her system and she forced him to read it to her.

When he finished she shrieked, "That is in one hour Harry!"

"I know Hermione, but you look, I don't know, not so good, what happened? It looks like you've been crucioed," Harry joked.

"That's because I was," Hermione muttered.

"What!" Harry yelled. "I'm going to kill him now, I don't bloody care if the horcruxes are around. I'm gonna kill him."  
>"It wasn't him!" Hermione shouted in order to get Harry to stop. She had said that right before Harry was trying to step out of the door.<p>

"Then who bloody did it?" Harry demanded angrily.

"One of his mindless drones of course. He sent him to get information out of me. Currently he is knocked out in one of the alleys of Diagon Alley," Hermione responded.

"That's my Hermione," Harry praised. "But are you alright?"

"I'm fine, it's just a few bruises. Nothing an Episkey can't fix," she replied and he nodded his head. She left the main room and entered the small bathroom to get herself fixed up.

So accordingly, one hour later Harry and Hermione were standing outside the Hogwarts gates waiting for Hagrid to let them in. Before they went to Honeydukes and bought Professors Dumbledore and Dippet some candies, like Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans, Cauldron Cakes and Fizzing Whizzbees.

Hagrid approached the gate; he was much younger than the Hagrid they knew. He was also surprisingly not as tall as he was in their time. He looked around sixteen years old as he approached the gate with a glum look.

"Hello, yeh two. Yeh Potter and Granger?" He asked gruffly.

"Yes, we are here to see Professors Dippet and Dumbledore," Hermione answered while Harry was too entranced about seeing Hagrid so much younger and around their age.

"Yeh, okay, follow me," Hagrid responded as he opened the gates. Harry and Hermione followed him as he led them up to the castle that was once their home, Hogwarts. When they reached the castle Harry realized how much he missed his home.

Nothing had changed; it was exactly the same except for the people that currently lived in it. What Harry would give to just go inside the Gryffindor Common Room one more time, simply playing Wizard's Chess with Ron or even sitting by the fire, laughing, and just having fun. Defense Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, Charms, Herbology, Divinations, Care of Magical Creatures, he missed it all (besides for Potions class with Professor Snape and the homework). He missed having tea and completely hard treacle fudge with Hagrid, venturing throughout the castle, The Room of Requirement, Fred and George's pranks, the always moving Grand Staircase, The Great Hall, every single thing about his home.

Hagrid led them up the Grand Staircase until they reached the seventh floor. Students walking around stared at them curiously, watching their every step. It made both Hermione and Harry uncomfortable to be the sight of many eyes.

They approached the familiar gargoyle and Hagrid mumbled the password to it. The gargoyle swiveled up and revealed the staircase leading to the Headmaster's office. Hagrid waved for them to follow him up the stairs and Harry and Hermione did it hesitantly. When they reached the top Hagrid knocked on the door and called, "Headmaster, Potter and Granger are here!"

"Oh yes, yes come in, come in," a tired voice called from inside. Hagrid opened the door and urged Harry and Hermione to follow him inside the Headmaster Dippet's office.

Inside Professor Dippet was sitting down in his chair while Professor Dumbledore stood near him. Professor Dippet was a very old man around three hundred years old. His medium length white beard reached his chest and his hair came down to the top of his back. He wore a small golden wizard hat with gold robes to match. Professor Dumbledore was much younger, and instead of grey hair like in the future he had auburn hair that was a shorter length than what they were used to. He did not wear his half-moon spectacles, but there still was the twinkle in his blue eyes. He wore midnight blue robes with a crescent moon pattern laced on it. They both stared at the people who just entered the room, Hagrid stood to the side allowing entrance for Harry and Hermione, who both gaped at seeing Professor Dumbledore so young and a tad unfamiliar.

"Hello Professors, I am Hermione Granger, and this is my brother Harry Potter, pleasure to meet you," Hermione started as she reached out her hand to shake it with both of the Professors and Harry followed in her suit. Harry was shocked that Hermione referred to him as her brother, even though she said different last names and both of the Professors knew they were from the future.

"Yes, I received you letter, Ms. Granger, Mr. Potter, now I have been wondering why exactly do you need the sword of Gryffindor to destroy those objects, why you contacted me, not Professor Dippet and what these objects are? For I may be able to help," Dumbledore quickly said.

"Yes Professor, well we contacted you because you are the Headmaster in our time, and I forgot that you were not yet," Hermione answered. She was still distracted by Dumbledore's younger appearance.

"The objects are called horcruxes, I am sure you heard of them, and we used the sword to destroy one in our time," Harry finished for Hermione.

"Ah indeed, that makes perfect sense," Professor Dippet said, obviously miffed that he was forgotten. "Now I will allow you to collect the horcruxes to defeat whatever villain it is you must defeat, and come back here to use the sword. I do not want you losing it or stealing it from me."

"Yes sir, we understand. Thank you," Hermione said politely.

"Now if I may ask, who is the villain, the dark lord of your time?" Dumbledore asked.

"I do not think that we should tell you, especially you Professor Dippet, you will be shocked more than Professor Dumbledore," Harry said.

Professor Dippet was appalled, "Now you tell me boy, or you will not be allowed to use the sword!"

"Fine," Harry sighed, he was defeated, and he needed the sword, "Tom Riddle."

"Now you must be joking, Tom Riddle was a model student, head boy even!" Dippet exclaimed.

"Sorry sir, but it is true," Hermione said, "He was bad all through his Hogwarts years."

"Merlin's beard!" Dippet shouted.

"I should have figured, always thought the boy was fake," Dumbledore responded.

"Albus!" Dippet said shocked, "Why did you never tell me!"

"You seemed too fond of the boy," Dumbledore answered simply. Dippet sighed and faced the two again when a voice boomed from the other end of the room.

"These two! They're from the future!" Hagrid shouted with a gaping mouth.

"Yes Hagrid," Dumbledore said. Hagrid's eyes grew larger and he put his hands to his face in shock, but the rest of them ignored his reaction.

"Do we have a deal?" Harry asked.

"Yes we do Mr. Potter," Dippet sighed and Dumbledore looked a Harry with a twinkle in his eyes and gave him a nod.

Hermione gave Hagrid an innocent sad smile as Hagrid continued to stare at her and Harry.

"Well, thank you Professors, now Harry and I should be on our way, must find those horcruxes you see, good bye! Oh wait before I go, we bought you two some candies," Hermione said as she pulled out the candies from her bag and handed it to the Professors. Dippet began taking out the candies and placing them on his desk and Dumbledore looked on with lust for the candies. Hermione then grabbed Harry and took him with her to the door. She waved good bye and rushed out of the room while Dippet and Dumbledore began to eat their treats. She ran out quickly to avoid further questioning by the Professors and Hagrid.

Harry and raced down the staircase, getting stuck a few times as it kept moving. Walked out of the marvelous castle and headed straight back to the familiar streets of Hogsmeade. Once they were outside of Hogwarts wards, Hermione grabbed Harry's arm and apparated back to the Leaky Cauldron.

Harry and Hermione ran upstairs to their room after they apparated. Tom the barman stared at them in confusion of how rushed they were.

"Oh Harry!" Hermione exclaimed joyously and she slammed the door shut and placed silencing spells by the door so no one would listen in. Harry had plumped himself down on the bed and Hermione ran straight to him plopping herself down in front of him, "Where do we start?"

"He definitely has the ring and the diary made into horcruxes already, I am not sure about the locket and the cup since Dumbledore never told me what year they were made. We may as well go to the Gaunt House in Little Hangleton to see if the ring is there. Voldemort may not have hidden it there already; he did wear it in his school years," Harry answered.

"Well it is worth a check," Hermione contemplated.

"Yeah, let's go," Harry said.

"Now?" Hermione said shocked.

"Now," Harry stated.

"Oh, well alright," Hermione said hesitantly.

"Now let me warn you Hermione, I do not know what defenses he has set up, if he has defenses for this one. Dumbledore never told me in sixth year, I just know that wearing the ring made his hand shriveled. So whatever you do, do not put it on," Harry lectured as Hermione listened intently to every word he said, "When Dumbledore and I recovered the fake locket, well it was challenging and difficult, so let's go, we do not want to waste another minute."

Hermione nodded and grabbed Harry's arm and apparated them to Little Hangleton.

* * *

><p>Harry and Hermione appeared in the middle of the road. Behind them stood the Gaunt House and in front of them stood Riddle Manor. Hermione to awe in its dark glory she began to approach it but Harry pulled her back.<p>

"That's Riddle Manor, I doubt Voldemort would hide a horcrux there," Harry said turning Hermione around, "This is the Gaunt House."

Hermione looked at it in disgust, it was completely run down and small. It smelled more of dung and death as she drew nearer to the home with Harry. Tacked to the door was a dead snake that seemed to have been there for many years. Hermione crinkled her nose and took out her wand, Harry did the same.

It was dark and gloomy inside the home; it was as though all of the sunlight just disappeared from the world, even though it was just midday outside. The shutters on the windows were tightly closed shut, allowing no light to come in. The wood was black, and had mold growing on the sides. The floors and the furniture were all broken, most likely from Riddle's visit with Morfin Gaunt two years earlier.

"Lumos," Hermione muttered and light sparked from the tip of her wand.

"Check under all of the floorboards and look for a golden box, but do not touch it," Harry ordered as he began lifting up the floor boards with the levitation charm. Hermione followed the order and did the same. She made her way over to the cracked floor boards, but did not touch it.

"Wingardium Leviosa," She whispered and the boards lifted up, revealing a gorgeous golden box. "Harry! I think I found it, come here!"

Harry raced next to her and stared at the box. He did not know what to do, there could be many curses surrounding that box, he considered Dumbledore's shriveled hand.

"Finite Incantatem!" Hermione shouted pointing her wand towards the small box. Whooshes were heard surrounding the box, screaming noises were heard. Hermione covered her ears and cowered to the ground. Harry stared at her with fear as he knelt beside her.

"No!" She sceamed, "No!" Harry did not know what to do, he patted her and rubbed circles and her back, but still had his wand ready for any attack.

"Ron," Hermione moaned, "Ron!"

Harry pointed his wand towards the box and said while Hermione's tortured screams pierced his ears, "Reducto."

The golden box blasted open and revealed Marvolo Gaunt's ring moving and glowing, it was aware of their threatening presence.

"Specialis Revelio," He murmured and the ring revealing the dark curse that was placed on it, the one that was hurting Hermione. It was activated by the Finite Incantatem spell. Harry figured that Voldemort thought that no one knew of the horcruxes, so he did not care to place several curses on it, unlike the protections at the cave. Harry did not know the counter curse and Hermione was still on the floor screaming.

"Finite!" He said pointing his wand towards Hermione. She gasped in relief, and started drawing deep heavy breaths, Harry felt lucky, for who would have guessed the counter-curse was simply finite.

"Reparo," He said pointing to the box which repaired itself and once more surrounded the ring. Harry reached down and grabbed it; no effect of the curse took hold of him. He knelt beside Hermione who still lay on the floor and whispered reassurances to her. She did not respond to his coaxing.

"Kill me Harry, just kill me," she pleaded and passed out.

* * *

><p>"My, my, my, my, you have recovered one already!" Dippet exclaimed, "Well then I permit you to use the sword. After the time in the Gaunt House, Harry took hold of Hermione and apparated straight to Hogwarts. Hermione recovered from the curse in a matter of minutes after he enervated her, but she would not tell him anything of what she saw.<p>

"Thank you Professor," Harry said. Dippet turned around and grabbed the sword from where it was hanging on the back wall and handed it to Harry. Harry took the golden box from his pocket and laid it on the floor of the office.

"Reducto!" He shouted and the box blasted open. The ring lay alone on the floor, unmoving. Harry took the sword and tried to slam it down on the ring. The sword was not able to touch the ring, it was impenetrable. Harry tried and tried, but was unsuccessful; he was getting more frustrated by the second. Harry was getting annoyed as the ring began to glow threateningly.

"Why isn't it working?" Dippet demanded and Hermione's eyes dawned in realization.

"Harry," She said tentatively.

"What!" He snapped.

"How could we have been so stupid Harry? You never killed the basilisk; the sword never took in the venom!"


	5. Dinner with the Enemy

**Thank you all for reading!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter  
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* * *

><p>Chapter 5<p>

It has been weeks since they recovered the horcrux. Harry became depressed and Hermione had to do everything for the two of them. All appeared hopeless. Dumbledore had sent them on a suicide mission. She and Harry had simply decided to lay low in this time as to not get attention until they decided what they should do to kill Tom Riddle. They avoided Tom Riddle as best as they could, occasionally seeing him walking the streets of Diagon Alley. He would throw her a smile when he saw her, but she would ignore him, she knew he was being fake.

Hermione did not know what to do; the Sword of Gryffindor was not yet able to destroy horcruxes since Harry never slayed the Basilisk. Basilisk venom is a force that can destroy horcruxes, not a simple goblin-made sword. Hermione could not help be feel idiotic that she had not realized this before. Their only other option was to use Fiend Fyre, but neither of them ever used it, and it is supposed to be extremely dangerous and terribly hard to control.

Florish and Blotts became Hermione's hideout. They did not have enough funds for her to buy her own books, but she would sneak in and read books. She saw Tom Riddle in there a few times, but would immediately leave the store when he came in. The owner of the store was growing annoyed with her, for she was not buying any books.

It was a cold and musky day when Hermione decided once again to go to Florish and Blotts. She entered the shop and heard the familiar ringing of the bell. She quickly brushed past the entrance and headed towards the many shelves of books. She raced through searching for her favorite book.

There it was, _Hogwarts A History_, shouting read me at her. She quickly grabbed it off the shelf and plopped herself down on the floor. She shuffled through the pages looking for the spot she left off at. She found it and inhaled the sweet smell of the freshly crisp pages of her book. This book always reminded her of her first time in the Wizarding world, the first time she laid eyes on this book she knew she was in love. It reminded her of simple times. When she read this book she thought she was her eleven year old self reading it for the first time. It brought back so many memories, and she remembered all of the times she had to tell Harry and Ron that according to _Hogwarts, A History_, you cannot apparate into or out of Hogwarts.

She sighed and continued reading.

"Excuse me miss," a velvety voice said.

Hermione looked up abruptly and her eyes widened with shock. Right in front of her stood Tom Riddle.

"Y-yes?" she stuttered, her eyes could not hide away the surprise within her body. She wanted to slap herself for stuttering, but it was too late.

"I came to apologize to you for my friend, Mulciber, he's not very kind. I would love to make it up to you somehow," he said with fake sincerity. Everything was perfect, the way he talked, looked straight into her eyes. Anyone would have believed this act, but Hermione knew better.

"It's alright, I can take care of myself," She said pulling herself together. She wanted to snicker at this. She was completely dumbfounded that he would speak about Mulciber, her apparent attacker.

"I hope that you won't tell anyone about what he did," Tom insisted. Hermione, not wanting attention dragged to herself nodded her head yes and he smirked.

"It's not like it's the first time I've been under the Cruciatus," Hermione said snidely and Tom's eyebrows lifted.

"Interesting, was Grindelwald involved?" Tom questioned, dying to know more.

The perfect alibi came with his question and Hermione muttered, "Yes."

Tom nodded his head respectfully and then said, "Yes, well I was also wondering," he started to say, but drifted off.

"Yes?" She asked, the curiosity was working her brain, normally she would have brushed it off, but now, everything was different.

"I was wondering if you wanted to go to dinner with me. I won't stop feeling bad for what Mulciber did to you until I treat you to something special," he said, with the still perfect acting.

"No thanks, it's quite alright. I forgive him. You weren't involved, you don't have to do that," Hermione said with her eyes wide. She knew that he was involved; he was obviously the one who sent Mulciber. He must have something more behind this so-called, "dinner". There was also no way she would ever agree to go out to dinner with Voldemort.

"Oh, I insist," he urged. He insisted her death sentence in her eyes.

"No, no it's alright," She pleaded, not wanting death to strike her doorstep.

"It's my treat," he pestered on. Hermione did not want to be treated to death.

"No, we don't want to let anyone think that you are courting me," Hermione said. Courting was the first possible excuse that came to her mind. During this decade it was not common for a man to take a friend out to dinner, a friend that is a girl.

"But what if I wish to court you," he said. He looked genuine, but deep down Hermione knew it was not true. This caught her by surprise. She knew the second he said that he was most definitely was lying. She sighed; she knew that he would not give up.

"It should even be Mulciber treating me to this," Hermione countered.

Tom laughed heartily. It was warm, rich, completely unlike the cold, screeching laughter that would emanate from his future self's mouth.

"You would not want Mulciber to take you anywhere. I'd be surprised if he ever weds or courts anyone," Tom replied sardonically. If only Riddle knew how ironic what he just spoke was, and Hermione almost snickered.

Fine, if you insist," She answered. This may be her opportunity to get closer to him, so she would be able to strike.

"Perfect, I will be at the Leaky Cauldron to pick you up at 6:00. That is where you are staying right?" he said with a smile. Hermione shivered at the thought that he knew where she was staying.

"Yes, perfect," Hermione said sarcastically under her breath. She continued to read her book in dread for the evening.

* * *

><p>Tom was more than angry, he was pissed. He needed to seek out his vengeance on Hermione for making a fool of his Death Eater. That's why he decided to ask out Hermione, hopefully their evening would go as planned and she would bring him back to her room, where he would curse Hermione severely, then wipe Hermione's memory, but not before he legilimized it. He also planned to kill her brother, Harry. They seemed like the type of people to get in his way. After he recovered Mulciber's memory he saw how Hermione was, her strength, and she knew she was an immediate threat.<p>

Malfoy Manor was oddly a calming place for Tom. He spent his time there, forcing Abraxas to let him stay. He would venture through their library reading the many dark secrets it held inside. Abraxas' parents died a year ago when they were in Romania, rogue dragons escaped from where they were held, and killed them. Abraxas mourned for a day and proudly took control of the majestic manor as its heir. It had a positive effect on Tom, for he did not have to hide his plots and schemes against muggles in the manor. He could also easily hold his Death Eater meetings there without suspicion taking hold.

He now knew Hermione and Harry's last name, Brown. He thought of it and made it roll of his tongue to test it out. It is a plain, simple and a common name. He believed it to be fake. The supposed brother sister did not even look like each other. When Mulciber had returned from his mission, he could not even remember what his task was, and was crucioed severely. His pain had given Tom a sickening joy at seeing the feeble man squirm under his power. He was able to scrounge out Mulciber's memories with complex spells and it took him a full week. The two siblings, supposedly from France, would receive their dues.

* * *

><p>"Harry?" Hermione called out as she entered her room in the Leaky Cauldron.<p>

"I'm here Hermione," he answered back. She stepped further in the room and saw Harry glumly sitting on his part of the severed bed.

"I don't know how to tell you this but, Voldemort asked me out for tonight," She said as she twiddled her thumbs.

"What?" Harry shouted. His eyes widened and he immediately got off of his bed and walked towards Hermione.

"I accepted, he wouldn't stop pressuring me. He wanted to do it as a treat for Mulciber's actions," Hermione confessed.

"This is great!" Harry exclaimed happily.

"What?" Hermione was taken aback; his reaction was the exact opposite that she would have suspected.

"This is perfect. He most likely just wants to know who we are, but this way you can get close to him. Get him to trust you, and steal the horcruxes!" Harry said elatedly with joy bursting off of his shoulders.

"It is perfect!" Hermione agreed doubtfully, "But what if it does not work out this way?"

"It is worth a shot Hermione," He said calmly.

* * *

><p>Tom entered the Leaky Cauldron at exactly 6 o'clock. Hermione was not down yet so he took a seat at the bar. The barman scrutinized him and Tom glared back menacingly.<p>

Hermione slowly walked down the stairs. She saw Voldemort calmly lounging on one of the bar stools, and scoffed and how relaxed and happy he seemed. He simply wore a fancy black cloak, making him seem like the rich bachelor. She looked down at her own outfit, which were only a simple muggle jacket and a khaki skirt. She and Harry had taken the time to buy clothes of this era, muggle and wizard, so they would not stand out. She decided to wear muggle fashioned clothes to tick Voldemort off, but seeing that he was wearing a fancy cloak, she immediately regretted her decision.

As slowly as she could she approached him cautiously. He then opened his eyes and smiled.

"Ah, I was wondering if you were even going to show up," he greeted her as he stood up from his stool. He looked disgusted at seeing her outfit but then covered it up by holding an award winning smile on his face. He reached out his long pale hand to grasp Hermione's. She declined the hand and walked out of the Leaky Cauldron instead. She did not want to touch him, that hand was the hand the held the wand which killed so many innocent people. It disgusted her.

She noticed that he followed her out of the bar, and she sighed in exasperation.

"Where are we going?" She demanded rudely.

"To Malfoy Manor," he responded.

"Why?" She inquired.

"My good friend Abraxas invited me for dinner along with his date," he responded. Friend my ass, more like minion, she thought to herself.

"Hermione, stop walking away," he called out. She turned around and faced him as he drew nearer to her. "Take my arm."

"Why?" she asked looking at his arm with pure distaste.

"We are apparating," he responded in a kind manner.

"Of course," Hermione muttered

She sighed and tentatively touched his arm. In a second she felt the sensation of being pulled though a tight rubber tube. In a flash she stumbled on the ground with only Voldemort to support her.

"Come," he ordered as he pulled her along by the arm, taking a firmer grip on her. She first attempted to squirm her arm out of his grip, but it just grew stronger, so she gave up, it was pointless. They reached the gate to Malfoy Manor, and seeing her dark surroundings she was reminded of her torture at this very manor by Bellatrix's hand. He pulled her straight through the gate as it evaporated in a mist around them.

The dark manor looked beautiful from the outside with its dark color and many floors. Extravagant sculptures lined the path leading to the entrance. All around her was a gorgeous garden that seemed well tended for.

Tom dragged her up the path as she tried to keep a slow pace. They reached the stairs and at the top a pale man stood with a dour expression waiting to greet them.

"Hello Tom," he said. The man was an exact older double of Draco Malfoy and Hermione stared in shock. She knew he was his grandfather, but the similarity of the two shocked her. He looked towards her and put on a faux smile, "Who might this be?"

"I am Hermione Gr-Brown," she responded and reached out her hand to shake Draco's grandfather's hand.

"Pleasure, I am Abraxas Malfoy, welcome to my manor," he greeted. He turned around and opened the doors leading inside. Voldemort grabbed Hermione's hand tightly and led her inside.

The manor opened up into a vast hallway with emerald green walls and black marble floors. Paintings of Malfoy ancestors lined the walls, and they all wore repugnant expressions. They sneered at Hermione in a reproachful manner as she walked by.

She then heard Voldemort whisper in her ear, "Abraxas' ancestors, not the most delightful bunch."

Hermione flinched away from him and stared in shock at Voldemort's uncharacteristic behavior while he simply charmingly smiled at her.

"Alright then," she said back with suspicion taking hold in her eyes.

"Abraxas dear, are they here yet," a sweet voice called out from a different room.

"Oh yes dear, they just arrived," he said as the continued walking down the hall.

A lady stepped into the hallway. She wore an incredibly tight black dress robes and her blonde hair was groomed to perfection. She obviously wore an overdose of makeup and she smiled widely at the three of them.

"Tom, Hermione, this is my fiancé Anastasia Defi," he said smiling at Anastasia.

"It is a pleasure to meet you Anastasia, Abraxas has told me so much about you," Voldemort said in his suave style. He took Anastasia's hand and kissed it, making her cheeks blush a red that was visible through her layers of makeup.

"It's nice to meet you Anastasia," Hermione shyly said. Anastasia merely nodded, but still kept her eyes on Voldemort.

"Now follow me into the dining hall," Abraxas announced and they followed him in the Grand Dining Hall. Inside the Dining room a large black table lined the elongated floor and it was surrounded by green walls. An ornate carpet lay on top of the marble floor. The table was set for four, and Abraxas and Voldemort sat at both heads of the table. Anastasia took her spot in one of the middle seats. Hermione took her time reaching the side that was unoccupied.

"Peony!" Abraxas called out. In a second a small feeble house elf appeared at his feet. She had huge batlike ears and extremely large orbs for her eyes. She wore a dishtowel and she looked incredibly unkempt.

"Yes master," it squeaked in a higher pitched voice than she remembered Dobby's, Kreacher's or Winky's.

"Get the dinner now," he ordered nastily and with the Malfoy trademark sneer. Peony nodded her overly large head and apparated away. She appeared seconds later with dinner in her hands. The dinner was a beautiful looking roast beef with mashed potatoes and assorted vegetables. Peony snapped her fingers and the food appeared at everyone's dinner plates. Hermione looked upon the food with lust, she could not remember the last time she had a meal this nice. She and Harry had been living on the cheapest food they could scrounge up

She dug straight into her meal viciously which earned unpleasant stares from the rest of the people. Anastasia crinkled her nose in disgust, Abraxas sneered and Voldemort shook his head.

"Abraxas, do you ever think about paying Peony for her work?" Hermione asked, thinking back to S.P.E.W. Abraxas, Voldemort and Anastasia stared at her in shock, and Hermione felt as though she shrunk ten times in her chair.

"Why on Earth would I do that, these things love to work," he said addressing Peony as a thing.

"Yes, but she has a heart, a soul, and a brain. She deserves payment; you are treating her as a lowly slave. She is not a thing or a possession!" Hermione shrieked getting her courage back.

"Hermione, be quiet," Voldemort ordered fiercely with a glare. "It is not proper to be rude to your host."

"Yes indeed," Abraxas snapped with a sneer. Hermione quieted after this, not wanting to get on anyone's bad side. Feasting with the Dark Lord and a loyal servant of his could end with a curse. The rest of the table also remained quiet as they dined.

"The culinary skill of your elf is absolutely divine," Anastasia extolled.

"Thank you my dear," Abraxas said conceitedly.

"So Hermione, where are you from?" Anastasia excitedly asked trying to change the mood of dinner. Voldemort looked up from his plate and began listening in.

"Oh, I am from France," she answered.

"Oh, me too! What part?" Anastasia continued animatedly.

"Well I attended Beauxbatons," She responded quickly.

"Me too! How come I do not recognize you?" Anastasia asked curiously.

"I just graduated," Hermione said nervously. She feared that Anastasia might be her downfall.

"Oh, that's it, I graduated two years ago, along with these two. Of course, they went to Hogwarts. I came from France with my father the following year. He got a job at the ministry here as an Unspeakable. That's when I met the Malfoy's. My father became very good work friends with Abraxas' father. It is rather unfortunate that his parents died a short while ago. What about you Hermione?" Anastasia enthusiastically remarked.

"Well, when I was ten my mother married my stepfather and I got a stepbrother, Harry. As a new family we decided to move to France for a fresh start. Harry and I went to Beauxbatons for our education. Then we decided to travel here to England," Hermione replied. She had made up this cover a while ago with Harry in case they encountered any difficulties with others about their accents.

"That is very interesting," Voldemort said joining the conversation with a curious gleam in his black eyes.

"Oh yes," Abraxas said leaning forward in his chair. "Why did you choose to come to England?"

"Well, Harry and I missed it here from when we were little," Hermione lied with a mask of indifference.

"Why did you come with him?" Voldemort asked politely.

"We are very close. He's always there for me and I am always there for him. He's my brother," She answered without a moment's hesitation. This was the only truth she told. She and Harry may not be biological siblings, but they are as close as.

"How sweet," Voldemort said with a slight crinkle of his nose.

Tom should have figured that they were a waste of time. Mysterious as they were, they were nothing but a pair of siblings who wanted to journey to England. His precious time was wasted wanting to know more about these people. Tom mentally slapped himself and re-joined the conversation. Anastasia was filling the room with her stories of her time at Beauxbatons. Tom thought she was to bubbly and annoying. He would try and persuade Abraxas to get rid of her.

"Now Hermione, didn't you just love Beauxbatons?" Anastasia inquired.

"Oh yes, it was quite lovely," She responded.

Hermione wanted more than anything to slap Anastasia across the face. Her bubbliness annoyed her severely, and the constant talk of Beauxbatons was driving her insane. Everyone had finished their dinners, and Hermione wondered when Anastasia ate if she was talking so much.

"Peony," Abraxas called, and once again the feeble elf appeared before them. "Clean up."

With a snap of her fingers the table was cleared of any dishes or mess.

"Do you want your dessert master?" She quietly asked with a squeak.

"Yes, yes, bring it out, now," he commanded.

An extravagant baked custard pudding appeared on everyone's newly brought plates and Peony popped out of the room in fear of her master. The four people began eating in quiet, even Anastasia whose mouth was now shut by the delicious pudding. Time went by and Voldemort and Abraxas went into a heated discussion while Hermione and Anastasia ignored it for they were filled with boredom.

After dessert Abraxas escorted Hermione and Voldemort outside into the chilly night air. The outside of the manor looked even more beautiful now that the night sky lit its features. It was dark, yet magnificently entrancing.

Voldemort smiled at her and said in his urbane manner, "I had a nice evening. Abraxas is always very welcoming. Anastasia seems lovely."

"I suppose," Hermione said trying to agree with him. Voldemort grasped her hand, but Hermione flinched away. He looked confused at her actions.

"Don't touch me," she said startled and took a step back.

"Are you alright," he asked with fake nervousness and sincerity.

"I'm fine!" She yelled.

"Let me apparate you back to the Leaky Cauldron," he offered kindly.

"No! I can do it myself!" She countered.

She grasped her wand out of her skirt pocket and apparated away, leaving Voldemort with crimson-red eyes.

* * *

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	6. Facade Down

**Thank you for reading!**

**Big difference in this new one than in the other chapter I had.  
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* * *

><p>Chapter 6<p>

Tom stared at the spot where the bint was before she had apparated away without him. His fury was reaching boiling point. How could she be so scared of him? He thrashed his wand out of his pocket and began screaming reducto. Each of the priceless statues of Malfoy Manor's front garden were blowing up all around him.

"My Lord, what is wrong?" Abraxas called out from behind. He turned around and Abraxas was standing on the front steps shaking and with terror in his eyes.

"The little bint left!" He shouted cruelly. Abraxas started cautiously taking steps closer to his master in fear of the worst a piercing shriek left his master's lips, "Crucio!"

Abraxas fell to the ground by the impact of the curse. He thrashed and screamed under Tom's rage. Tom lifted the curse and he immediately apparated away from Malfoy Manor.

"Abraxas!" Anastasia screamed running towards her love. She knelt next to his figure on the ground and rubbed his side, "What happened to you, my darling?"

"Nothing important, please help me up dear," Abraxas timidly begged.

Anastasia fiercely nodded her head and took out her wand and muttered the incantation, mobilocorpus, and Abraxas rose in the air and Anastasia brought him back inside the manor with silent tears streaming donw her flawless cheeks.

* * *

><p>Hermione slowly opened the door to her room in the Leaky Cauldron. She crept inside and snuck right into bed. The night was dreadful; she felt that Voldemort was going to try and kill her every second she was there. Harry was counting on her tonight to deceive Voldemort, and she failed. She sighed and curled up in her bed without caring to change her clothes, and quickly fell asleep.<p>

"_Ron!" Hermione cried shakily reaching her hand out in front of her. Her beloved lay on the ground, his glossy eyes wide open, and his heart, no longer beating. She screamed in anger and thrashed out her wand. She lunged in protection of her dead, but was taken aback when firm hands grasped her shoulders._

_Her eyes widened in fear and she squirmed, but a fearful voice of the shoulders said, "There's no time, run! We will hold them off. Protect Harry!" _

_Lupin stood behind her with terror latching in his eyes. She nodded her head as tears were flying out and ran away, out the Burrow door….._

Hermione woke and screamed with the many tears she wanted to relinquish that day. She pulled at her hair in frustration and slammed her pillow on her face, and wept out her sorrows.

Life was worth living, but death is inevitable.

* * *

><p>Harry woke up to the blinding sunlight reaching in from the window. He groaned, stretched and stumbled out of bed. He looked at Hermione's bed and saw that she was curled tightly in her blankets. He did not remember her coming back last night, but shrugged it off and headed to the bathroom.<p>

He splashed water on his face and stared at his reflection in the provided mirror. His eyes were red and his hair a mess. He sighed, and heard a scream of sadness back in the room. He rushed from his bathroom and slammed the door opened.

"Hermione!" Harry's voice yelled in a panic as he left the bathroom. Hermione chose not to respond, and continued to let the tears fall from her eyes. Footsteps came out of the bathroom and headed straight towards her side. A comforting arm rubbed her side, and she turned to look at Harry.

"Hermione, what's wrong?" He asked concerned.

"That night," she moaned with tears ruining her normally coherent speech. Harry enclosed her in a tight bear hug which she returned. She leaned into his shoulder and continued crying softly.

"It's all over, and if we succeed here, it will never happen," he said in an attempt to comfort her.

"The memory will always be there," she retorted from his shoulder.

"Who knows what will happen Hermione, if we will have a different self or not when we succeed," Harry said as he held her tighter. Her tears stopped eventually stopped flowing as Hermione calmed herself down.

"Last night was awful, if you wanted to know," she said with a sniffle.

"What happened?" Harry asked.

"It was completely awkward dining with Voldemort and Draco's grandparents. The dinner tasted fantastic, but that was the only good thing about last night. I had apparated away as fast as I could when dinner was finally over. When he touched me, I felt like he was going to kill me right then and there. Not a good way to earn his trust," she said with a slight giggle.

"How about you go to Borgin and Burkes today and apologize for leaving so quickly," Harry suggested.

"Apologize?" She spat irately with redness brimming her ears the Weasley way.

"Sorry Hermione, it's just a way to earn his trust," Harry said apologetically.

"Fine, I will," She groaned and the redness escaped.

"Thanks. You know I'd rather do this, but it seems likes it is you who caught his attention. I will be right outside the shop if anything happens," Harry said with a fierce and confident stare.

"Wait, but Harry," Hermione started, sitting up in bed, "What if he is, you know?"

"I know…what?" He asked curiously.

"Gay," she said, "Then maybe it is you who should earn his trust and go out to dinner with him."

"I highly doubt it," Harry said nervously, "Anyway; I'm not, so it would be extremely awkward, especially in this decade, where no one accepts gayness, or rather, knows about it."

"So basically, you don't mind if I hook up with Voldemort, but you refuse to!" Hermione yelled angrily, standing up from her bed. Harry backed up and put his hands in front of his face, while his eyes were searching for where he left his wand.

"Hermione, I don't refuse to, I'm just saying it would be awkward, for the both of us," he said tentatively.

"Sorry Harry, I'm just-," she started before being interrupted.

"I understand. It's okay," Harry said with a small smile.

"You know what Harry, I will try, but if I fail, it's your turn," She said with a mischievous grin.

"Thank you, Hermione," Harry said with a grin.

"So, when do you think we should go to Borgin and Burkes for me to apologize," she said with a grimace.

"Soon, if you don't mind," Harry responded.

* * *

><p>"Hello Mr. Borgin," Tom greeted as his boss entered the shop. Normally both Mr. Borgin and Mr. Burke never came to the shop unless there was important business to attend to. Tom was left to take care of the shop alone while they bathed in their riches.<p>

"Yes hello Tom. How's the shop?" Mr. Borgin asked as he cautiously walked inside the deserted store. Mr. Borgin was a stout man with a stoic personality. He clothes were of the most extravagant wizard's cloaks, which he always has to deny stealing. When Tom had wanted a job at his shop, it was a day of a miracle for him; he never had to show up again. His face wore a dour expression, when he normally wore a stern one.

"Normal," Tom answered honestly. Borgin and Burkes always had slow business; it would be a miracle is they had two different customers in one day. Mr. Borgin nodded his head.

"Tom, I am sure that you heard of Hepzibah Smith's death. Very unfortunate, she had quite the collection of artifacts," Mr. Borgin said, drifting off in thought.

"Yes I did hear of her death, Mr. Borgin. She was a sweet old woman," Tom said.

"Apparently Mr. Burke and I were mentioned in her will. She knew of how we adored her artifacts, and wanted to let us have the Slytherin Locket after she passed, as she did not trust her own family with it. Unfortunately, after the Aurors searched her house, they could not find it. You don't know how much this displeases me," Mr. Borgin said with an unpleasant sneer.

"I'm sorry sir," Tom said with fake sincerity.

"Do you know anyone who could have stolen it? You were at her home a bit before her death," Mr. Borgin asked with anger showing inside his miniscule brown eyes.

"No sir," Tom lied.

"Very well then, I trust you Tom," he said with a huff as he regained his composure, "Goodbye."

"Goodbye sir," Tom answered respectfully as his boss left the store.

He sighed with relief and pulled out his book from underneath the counter. His book was describing complex dark spells that Tom wished to master. He read certain curses over and over and practiced the wand movements for each one, being careful to not cast them yet in case anyone walks in.

The door opening again after a while caused him to immediately stop practicing his curses. A familiar bushy haired witch came inside, and she had fright glistening in the corners of her large brown eyes. Tom returned his book to its original place, and slyly slipped his wand into his pocket.

"Miss. Brown," Tom greeted with his teeth gritted.

"Hello Mr. Riddle," she responded in a small voice.

"Do you need anything, Miss. Brown?" He asked standing up from behind his counter and he slowly drew near her.

"I just-," she started and sighed.

"You just?" He said playfully as he came closer to her. He looked at her more closely and noticed that she seemed nervous, and he figured he could have a little fun with the bint. She was pretty, no matter how unmanageable her hair seemed and Tom knew that she would give in easily, anyone would with him. During his Hogwarts years, he was the boy that every girl, in every year wanted. His looks, faux politeness and his secretiveness drew them in. He figured the same would happen with every girl he met, including Hermione, no matter how shy and unwilling she appeared to be around him.

"I wanted to say sorry for leaving so abruptly, and not being my best at dinner, what with bring up house-elves rights," she said as her fake apology that Harry had suggested she'd do. He smiled and came closer to her until they were so close, their bodies were almost touching. This close, Hermione felt intensely small, he was around a foot taller than her, and he felt that he was growing taller, and she was slowly shrinking. He took some of her hair and began twisting it in his finger, which made Hermione's eyes grow wide. She was frozen in her spot, and could not move away.

"I suppose I could forgive you," Tom sardonically considered, still twisting her hair. "But I want something from you."

"W-what," Hermione stammered, she wanted to run out of the store, but she couldn't. She knew this was Voldemort she was dealing with, but he seemed so different at this age, and with his looks. She wished she could say that he was pretending, yet, not even she wanted that to be true.

"You," he demanded softly and let go of her hair. His hand ghosted downward and gripped her arm tightly. Hermione breathes became faster and shallower. His face showed no emotion as he pulled Hermione right up against him.

"Let go of her!" Harry yelled finally bursting into the room with his wand pointed at Tom. Tom growled angrily, let go of Hermione, and drew out his own wand. Hermione, regaining her common sense, immediately took out her wand.

"What do you want Brown, were you spying on us?" Tom nastily yelled at Harry.

"I was waiting for Hermione outside, and you began grabbing her! What the hell is wrong with you!" Harry yelled back, "Stupefy."

Tom wordlessly blocked the spell, "Too easy Brown! I can beat you with my eyes closed"

'Expelliarmus,' Harry thought to cast a wordless spell, and Tom once again blocked it.

"Child's play! You really think that little of me, do you?" Tom teased menacingly.

"There's no use in fighting!" Hermione shouted. "Harry, let's just go!"

They both ignored her, and began throwing spell after spell at each other. Both were blocking the spells the other cast and Hermione stood next to Harry, helping protect him. Riddle had great skills in fighting.

"PROTEGO MAXIMA!" Hermione shouted and a large protego shield separated both sides of the room from each other. Riddle groaned and Harry slightly lowered his wand. Both sides of the room glared evilly at each other, not wanting to affect the shield, for their spell could backfire on them.

"Leave," Riddle commanded.

"Gladly," Harry snapped.

"Oh, and Riddle, I'm not sorry," Hermione said cheerfully and the two siblings left Borgin and Burkes. Hermione removed the protego charm right before they strolled out of the store.

Riddle wanted to murder them more than ever.

* * *

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	7. Letter From No One

**Thank you all for reading this story! It means a lot to me! I really hope you are enjoying it!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. Oi Vey!  
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Chapter 7

He was going to kill them, they had to suffer a very painful death in order for them to just drop dead. They were unnervingly fearful, hateful and suspicious around him. Tom could always tell from the look in Hermione's eyes, especially during the night of dinner. It made him feel like she knew everything about him. Harry in his eyes was a bomb waiting to explode.

He did not even move from his position he was so angry, yet he did not care to run after the siblings. They were long gone, but they would be back. His thoughts drifted to Hermione, thinking of how she and her brother were so mysterious. That Protego she casted was very powerful, unlike many that he has seen. He knew that Beauxbatons was not particularly known as a school that had the best Defense teachers. Anastasia, Abraxas' fiancé was true example of the students that the school taught. He always had the inkling that Hermione had been lying to him, but it was stronger than ever. She needed to die in his eyes, and he could just imagine throwing the Cruciatus curse at her and then finishing her off with the Infamous Killing Curse. He gripped his wand tighter so that he fingers could pop.

The door to Borgin and Burke's then bursted open, and Tom's head shot up from the ground he was angrily staring at.

"My Lord!"

Mauris Avery entered with his eyes wide. Tom decided not to respond and Avery walked to him slowly him. Avery was not very smart, and Tom could feel the upcoming curse pulsing through his system that he could easily fire at Avery.

"What's wrong, my Lord?"Avery asked nervously.

"Don't talk out of turn Avery," Riddle snapped furiously. "Crucio!" The force of Riddle's curse pushed Avery to smack against the store's wall and fall on the ground screaming. Knockturn Alley was always exposed to these noises, so no one even bothered to enter the store and Riddle had no fear of anyone actually coming to Avery's aid and reporting him.

"Y-yes m-my Lord," Avery stammered.

"Already going against what I just said," Riddle said softly and lazily threw another crucio at Avery, enjoying his pain and imagining it was either Hermione or Harry.

* * *

><p>Hermione groaned into her pillow. They had absolutely, with no doubt at all, ruined everything. They ruined their chance to get close to Riddle, so close that they could steal the horcruxes. Harry had only realized this when they returned to their room at the Leaky Cauldron, but Hermione realized it the second she left the store. She had immediately regretted taking back the apology and wanted to rush back in there to save herself, but the attempt to save herself would instead end up in her death. She had yelled at Harry, they had fought and the strong magic around them had broken the mirror, causing Harry to need to get "some air" outside. She knew he was angry, she was too.<p>

She had this strike of intuition that Riddle wanted to kill them. She honestly did not blame him when she thought about his personality.

A tapping sound was then made on her window of their apartment in the Leaky Cauldron. Hermione went to the window and opened it. A strange, large, black Barn owl flew in, holding out a fancy envelope. The owl hooted and stared at her happily while tooting. Hermione approached it and took the letter, the owl scooted towards her, hoping for a pet. She looked at it, contemplating its odd behavior with strangers. She sighed and took the letter. Harry then entered the room again in a huff and she showed him the letter with their names on it. Harry came over to her and he sat down on his bed right next to her. She opened the envelope and read it aloud while Harry listened to her intently:

_Dear my dears Harry and Hermione,_

_Oh, why haven't you two sent me any owls like you promised! It makes dear old me very upset, and I am sure Tammy is delighted to see you two again. Is she already asking for treats? I assume so. _

_Anyway, your father got promoted to Head of Auror Office in our Ministry. We thought about moving to England if he didn't get the promotion. Too bad he did, I could have seen my babies again! I hope England is as beautiful as I remember it. I presume you are staying at the Leaky Cauldron. Oh the nights your father and I had there. Kidding!_

_Your sister told me that her first year at Beauxbatons is going splendidly, but only with the education. Send her a letter, reassure her that it is going to be fine, since you two survived it after all those years!_

_I, your poor mother who has been sitting here waiting for a letter from her two eldest children, well I suppose I'm doing fine. Same old same old for little old me._

_Please tell me about your time in England. When you two left you were so happy about seeing it again. It really makes me wonder why we ever moved to France. Possibly for the croissants, or the escargot, of course, escargot is revolting in my opinion. It is just a batch of slimy snails!_

_I love you, respond my dears!_

_Love,_

_Mama_

_P.S. You better respond!_

Hermione finished reading out loud and stared at Harry in shock. Harry came towards her and seized the letter to read it to himself, probably to prove what she had read was true. The owl, now known as Tammy came hooting towards them, and shoved her head under Hermione's unsuspecting hand. Strix, their tawny owl, came hooting angrily at Tammy, and pushed her away from Hermione's hand. Hermione is Strix's only.

"What does this mean?" Harry finally said.

"I have no idea, maybe it is just a coincidence," Hermione said.

"It can't be, it's our whole cover story, it has our names, and this owl freaking loves us!" He exclaimed loudly in burst of anger.

"I don't know, Harry, calm down!" Hermione shouted.

"Sorry, I'm just a little frazzled," Harry said while taking deep breaths to calm himself down to a proper temperature.

Hermione nodded her head in a quick motion and plopped herself down on the bed, not sure of anything anymore. She chose not to respond to Harry as he stared at her, hoping that she would be able to give him an answer. She always had an answer, a solution, but this time she was just as clueless as he was. The Brightest Witch of her Age, stuck.

How could it be possible that there was some sort of mother out there? Surely Riddle was behind this she tried to believe. But there was no plausible reason for him doing this; he must believe that they have a mother. He would not even be able to express love into a letter. He is cold, hard, menacing and horrible. It would be a miracle for him to express love, even over a curse. There would not even be a suitable reason for him to even do this, so Hermione tossed him out as a suspect in her brain. No one else even crossed her mind.

Could fate somehow be involved? Hermione had been a tad nervous to read any books about time at Flourish and Blotts. There confines had unnerved her, and she felt that she could uncover a secret that she did not want to know. It could be something deadly that would hurt her and Harry at any second. She had pushed away reading a book on Time Travel for too long, and she knew that it was now imperative that she find some kind of book to answer her questions. She knew that Harry would not take the initiative to read, even after all those years of her telling him and Ron to read _Hogwarts A History._

Ron, she had not even thought of him enough, and so many others who had died. She closed her eyes as hard as she could as her throat swelled to a large proportion. She wanted to hurt herself, punch her face, slap her cheek, something that would be able to knock some kind of sense into her. She felt heartless, just like the devil himself, Voldemort.

Hermione snatched the letter from Harry's hands and she kept re-reading the letter from the so-called, "Mama," and eventually decided to write back after about an hour of just reading it over as Harry paced the room. She pondered how to start it, the whole thing confused her, and Harry simply waited on her to make the decision. She wished she saw Ron sitting with him, asking her what they had to do. She wanted to cry, but she held back her tears.

_Dear Mama,_

_Harry and I are fine. England is absolutely grand. It is great to hear about Dad's promotion. It's absolutely fantastic! _

_Harry and I are sorry for not responding sooner. We have been so busy settling in, that we absolutely had no time! Everyone is splendid here; it makes me wonder why we ever moved too._

_I'm glad sister is settling in well at Beauxbatons. I remember my years there. I had great times, she will learn to love it just like Harry and I did!_

_I'm sorry mother once again for not writing sooner! I'm super sorry! So is Harry. _

_Tammy was apparently delighted to see us again, she came straight toward us cooing and making us pet her head! _

_I hope that all of you are doing well back in France. _

_See you when we return!_

_Love,_

_Hermione_

Hermione signed her name and brought it to Harry, and he read it. There was not much in the letter, but she did not know what else she could say to a woman who she had never met, or to a person that could very well no exist in the slightest.

"Does it sound convincing enough?" Hermione asked him and he nodded.

"It doesn't really have much heart, but it's fine. This is just so weird, I doubt Dumbledore expected this," Harry said skeptically.

"Yeah," Hermione agreed sadly, looking into Harry's bright and solemn green eyes. They were silent for a minute, until Hermione sealed the letter inside an envelope and called over that owl Tammy, and Strix hooted in pure disgust and anger. She attached the letter to the chipper owl and sent it out the window, watching as its figure grew smaller in the distance, until it disappeared. She stared at Harry again, and suddenly began weeping. He came over to her and brought her face into his shoulder.

"Why does everything have to be so bad?" Hermione asked through her tears.

"Because Voldemort choose me," Harry stated and he put his head on top of hers.

* * *

><p><strong>Thank you for reading!<strong>

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	8. Book and Ring

**Thank you everyone for reading!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter!  
><strong>

* * *

><p>Chapter 8<p>

Tom was furious, that little bint and her brother kept coming into focus in his mind. He could not believe her nerve. He planned retribution against what they had done to him, in his own shop. He no longer cared if his secret came out to her and her brother, for they seemed to already know for how antagonistic they were around him.

He turned behind him and nodded at his two closest Death Eaters, Malfoy and Avery. They nodded back, and he could see the nervousness in their eyes. He scoffed at them and raised his wand.

* * *

><p>Hermione had calmed herself down, and she and Harry had left the Leaky Cauldron to go for a stroll, so they were walking through Diagon Alley. Her head lay on his shoulder and they held hands as they walked. It was comforting and it helped Hermione relax knowing that Harry would stick by her. Those walking by, especially women, winked at her, and she rolled her eyes at them. The crooked streets etched through the Alley, and they always brought Hermione joy by their unusual pattern.<p>

She looked at Harry and asked, "Can we go in Florish and Blott's?"

He nodded and she led him towards the bookshop. She opened the door, and it creaked with the sound of a ringing bell. They stepped inside and the bookshelves soared through the store, with the thousands of shelves of novels and books.

"We might be able to find something about time travel, as to why we received a letter from that woman, whoever she, or maybe even he, is," Hermione suggested, and she pulled Harry to a bookshelf that was nearby. She turned the corner into the aisle and rushed into a different person. She stopped herself before they crashed into each other.

"Hermione!" he greeted with his award winning smile. "I was afraid you would not come today!" He smiled at her, and his blue eyes shone as his wavy, blonde hair flopped around. He turned, looking at Harry and grimaced.

"Marlon!" she greeted in return. "Marlon, I'll always come don't worry. This is Harry, my brother! Harry, this is Marlon Lockhart."

Marlon Lockhart's features softened once Hermione said brother. He held out his hand towards Harry and Harry reached out his own. Marlon gripped Harry's hand and firmly shook it.

"Hello," Harry greeted Marlon warily. He looked at Hermione with his eyebrows creased. The name Lockhart brought back so many memories. He looked at Marlon more closely, and he realized that he and Gilderoy Lockhart were very similar in their looks. He summed up that this must be Gilderoy's father.

"He works here," Hermione said and Marlon smiled more widely at his recognition. "Now if you excuse us, we have to find a book."

"May I be of assistance?" Marlon asked with his teeth glistening proudly.

"No thank you Marlon," Hermione said and began to walk away with Harry as Marlon's smile faltered. They rounded the bookshelf and Hermione pulled Harry along while her eyes were skimming over book titles.

"You know-," Harry started.

"Know what?" Hermione interrupted.

"That Marlon guy has a thing for you. Did you notice when he saw me, he didn't look that happy until you said brother," Harry snickered.

"Trust me, I've noticed. It's another Cormac McLaggen, he is," Hermione stated simply, not wanting to go into it further, and Harry chuckled.

"Who knows, if we get stuck here, you could be Gilderoy Lockhart's mother!" Harry exclaimed jokingly. Hermione turned and looked at him with disgust written all over her face.

"Don't make me vomit, Harry," Hermione said, showing her annoyance to him. She grabbed a book from the nearest bookshelf and playfully wacked his head with it.

"Sorry, sorry," Harry pleaded, and Hermione continued dragging him along as she scanned the many books.

Her round, brown eyes scrolled over the book titles. She had been here many times since they were in this time, and she practically knew where every book was. She had passed by the time travel books a few times. There were very few of them, and one of them was all about the Time Turner. Hermione had thought of Dumbledore's advanced Time Turner which brought them here, and it did not particularly made her happy. Soon her eyes landed on a certain book and she stopped walking, causing Harry to skid a little bit. She reached out her arm and seized the large, filthy, green book.

"_My Travels in Time, _by Miles Runcorn," She read aloud. The book was large, with seemingly over a thousand pages, and its green color was faded. The title on the cover was in a large print, and the author's name drooped on the bottom. She opened the book and slightly skimmed through the old and dusty pages and coughed a little. She closed the book and looked at the back, trying to find a price.

"We have to get this," Hermione decided for the both of them. "But there's no price."

"We'll figure it out at the register," Harry told her, and Hermione once more grasped his hand and brought him to the register while clutching the heavy book in the other. Marlon was the person working the register and Hermione inwardly groaned as his head turned her way and drew up a flashing smile.

"Hermione!" He exclaimed. "Come, come, let us get this settled."

Hermione sighed and brought the book up to Marlon. As Marlon saw the large, dusty book his eyebrows creased curiously.

"You want this old thing?" He questioned in a surprised tone.

"Yes, Marlon," Hermione said as she gritted her teeth.

"Well, you can have this for free. We have been trying to get rid of this old thing for ages. Everyone thought Miles Runcorn to be crazy," Marlon said excitedly, hoping to strike up conversation with Hermione.

"Really? Thanks!" Harry said happily, since he no longer had to waste galleons and Marlon frowned as Harry snatched the book from Marlon's grip.

"Why did people believe Runcorn to be crazy?" Hermione asked as she delicately lowered Harry's arms, and Marlon's smile returned.

"Well, first of all, everyone believes that time travel is a very delicate thing to mess with," Marlon began. "What Runcorn wrote in this book escapes boundaries of what is known to us. In this book, I have read it myself, he tells of the time of the Founders of Hogwarts, as though he was there, which he says he was. He states that he has time traveled and changed everything in our world. He says that he was the one who got Slytherin to choose to leave Hogwarts, and that he caused Ravenclaw's sickness which led to her death. He discusses events that are known to have happened, which, he says, were changed by him. He is a lunatic, who most likely lied about everything in this book. He is still alive, but very old, very insane. To jump back centuries in time, and return, is most endearing to me, but it is false. This book barely sold to anyone, and none are still being made. He never even mentions how he traveled through time, he is a crazy lunatic. Inside the book, Runcorn says that these theorems are not simply theorems, but the truth. By all means take it, See for yourself."

As Marlon had spoken Hermione had analyzed everything he said in her mind. She knew that extensive time travel was real; she and Harry had done it.

"Runcorn's theorems could be correct though," Hermione argued and Harry nodded, "There's no way to prove it."  
>"Exactly sweetie," Marlon said smirking as he leaned half of his body over the counter, closer to Hermione so that his face was an inch apart from her. "Now, I have been meaning to ask you sweetheart, would you like to go out with me tonight, say 8 o'clock?"<p>

"Oh, I would love to," Harry said sarcastically. "But Hermione and I have some business to take care of today. Bye Marlon." Harry grabbed a laughing Hermione by the hand and he whisked her out of Florish and Blott's as fast as he could. He did regret not looking back and seeing the look on Marlon's face.

"Thanks for that," Hermione said, still laughing.

"Anytime," Harry said grinning.

* * *

><p>Tom searched through the room carelessly, tossing everything in a heap on their severed beds. Avery and Malfoy were doing the same because of Tom's orders. Tom searched through drawers and through the covers of the two lop-sided beds. The room was musty and unpleasant looking. Fit for the Leaky Cauldron standards.<p>

"M-my Lord, is this important?" Avery said nervously and Tom turned around. Avery was holding out a small case, which was extremely recognizable to Tom. His eyes widened in shock and worry.

"Where did you find that!" Tom demanded furiously.

"It-it was right over there inside that dresser," Avery said, then flinched, expecting pain. Instead Tom snatched it out of Avery's clutch and opened the case.

Marvolo Gaunt's ring, which held his torn soul, stared right back at him. Tom yelled out in fury and shot a crucio at Malfoy who was across the room. His eyes turned red as the pain of Crucio soared through Malfoy's body and as Malfoy screamed in pain. After a few minutes Tom released the curse and stared at the ring with his red eyes full of venom. Avery took a few steps back from his enraged master, in fear of a Cruciatus. Malfoy was in a heap on the ground, his eyes crying of pain. Tom's enraged anger made the curse stronger than ever, and Malfoy could barely get up from his position.

Finally, Avery drew up the nerve and asked, "What is that m-my Lord?"

Tom stared at Avery with pure anger and snapped viciously, "None of your concern. What did I tell you about speaking out of turn!"

Riddle was about to cast a crucio at Avery when he heard laughter outside the door. Malfoy was finally able to pull himself together as both Tom and Avery stared at the door, waiting. It creaked open and Hermione and Harry entered with looks of shock written on their face.

They stared at the Death Eaters in their room and took hold of their wands and pointed it at the trio of men. Hermione held her wand out in her right hand and the book by Miles Runcorn was now held in her left hand.

"Why are you here?" Harry demanded furiously. His wand was held out at Tom's anger-filled face.

"Why did you have this?" Tom screamed furiously as he held up the case which held Marvolo Gaunt's ring. Hermione grew scared, and she too pointed her wand at Tom. The other two Death Eaters had no idea what exactly was going on as they tried to find their wands.

"How do you know!" Tom demanded with his eyes turning red. "I suppose there's no reason to pretend among you filth anymore. Crucio!"

Harry dodged the curse that was aimed for him and he fired Stupefy as Hermione did the same. Tom easily deflected it with his wand and the other two Death Eaters began to finally fire curses at Harry and Hermione.

Avery shouted, "Avada Kedavra." Hermione's eyes filled with fear, as it was aimed towards her. She jumped out of the way just in time and the green jet hit the wall outside, and Harry filled with rage.

"No killing! I need them alive!" Tom commanded.

"What's going on up there?" The five people heard from the floor below. They were all distracted for a second and it took a minute, but they began firing curses again after Tom used his magic to slam the door shut and silence it.

"Stupefy!" Hermione shouted and her wand was pointed towards Avery. The red jet knocked Avery towards the far wall and forced him into unconsciousness. She smiled for a second and continued firing more curses at her enemies with Harry.

Tom was powerful and he deflected all the curses aimed towards him. Malfoy cowardly hid near Tom and fired few weak curses which were easily conquered by Hermione or Harry. Tom's elegance as he used his magic was admirable to Hermione, and she could not help but be partially mesmerized by it. She could not deny that he is a powerful wizard.

"Strix," she suddenly called, seeing the owl perched near the window. Tom turned and stared at the tiny owl who flew quickly and perched itself on Hermione's shoulder.

She shook her head from the thoughts and placed a Protego Shield in front of her and Harry. She stared at the horcrux gripped in Tom's long hand. The horror struck her as Tom tried to fire a crucio, aimed right at hers. Lust and determination were filled in his red eyes, and his normally perfect, black hair was flopped in a mess.

"Grab my hand, Harry!" Hermione suddenly said. Harry did. Hermione gripped Strix, while still holding Harry, her wand and the book. She imagined the Forest of Dean, and they were whisked in the tight tube, and left the scene as Tom yelled out in anger as he stared at their leaving.

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><p><strong>Thank you so much for reading!<strong>

**PLEASE REVIEW AND STORY ALERT!  
><strong>

**-Love Simply Paranoia  
><strong>


	9. Crazed He Is

**Thank you for reading. Don't worry, after the next chapter there is going to be much more action! This is basically a filler, and the next chapter is very important!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. Why do I have to do this EVERY TIME. It is quite annoying.  
><strong>

Chapter 10

Mauris Avery and Abraxas Malfoy had been watching Riddle rummage through the Brown siblings' room for half an hour. He seemed crazed and distraught as he searched through all of their items. The two Death Eaters stopped searching after five minutes, which had gone completely unnoticed by Riddle. They knew they would be punished severely if they left, so they just remained in the room. Riddle's goal was set and the whole room was now a big mess. The patron of the Leaky Cauldron came knocking on the door, but no one answered, they did not care. The patron must have believed no one was in the room, thanks to Riddle's silencing charm.

"Nothing else is here," Riddle muttered to himself. "Nothing else."

Finally, Avery drew up the nerve and asked, "Are you alright, my Lord?"

"Fine! I'm fine!" He yelled at Mauris.

Avery shut his lips and Malfoy stood completely still, paralyzed by his fear. Tom Riddle, otherwise Voldemort, was frightening behind his mask of sweetness. Abraxas knew that he never would have joined what was used to have been called "The Knights of Walpurgis" if it he knew what Riddle's true personality was like. The Knights of Walpurgis stood for everything Abraxas believed in, and Tom entranced him with his words. He, like everyone else in the group, was tricked. Once he saw Riddle cast his first crucio on Alphard Black, he knew he was trapped.

"Malfoy!" Tom commanded, alerting Malfoy of real life once more. "You will take me to your manor. I will be staying there for as long as I wish!"

"Y-yes m-my L-lord," Malfoy uttered. Malfoy extended his arm out towards his master and Tom gripped it tightly. He was so close to peeling Malfoy's skin off with the grip. Malfoy flinched in pain, and then he and Riddle apparated away, leaving Mauris Avery alone, confused and flustered.

* * *

><p>Hermione, Harry and Strix had recently appeared in the Forest of Dean in a matter of seconds through the normal transportation of the tight tube of apparation. Hermione opened her eyes slowly after apparating and looked at Harry who appeared shocked. The presence of Strix was no longer on her shoulder and her eye's widened in fear.<p>

"Harry! Where's Strix!" Hermione demanded worriedly, but right as she said that she saw poor Strix lying on the ground in pure pain.

Strix's wing had been splinched off. Her blood was surrounding her, and she was squawking in terror and fear. Blood kept seeping out of that area. Her other wing was feeling around for the missing one and Hermione wanted to cry at the miserable sight. Then Hermione carefully lifted up Strix who hooted in terrible pain.

"The poor thing," Hermione moaned miserably.

"What do we do?" Harry asked, concerned.

"I don't know!" Hermione yelled in her agitation.

"Remember Pettigrew's bionic hand that Voldemort gave him!" Harry said excitedly and Hermione looked at him with hope.

"Yes," she replied hopefully.

"Maybe we can do something like that for Strix," Harry suggested.

"I can't do that magic!" Hermione shrieked, "It's incredibly advanced!"

"It was just an idea," Harry said calmly and Hermione sighed.

"Maybe I can just bind her up," Hermione said and pointed her wand where Strix's wing was splinched off, "Ligavi."

Bandages spurted out of Hermione's wand and it wrapped itself around Strix's tiny, black, body. Strix was flinching as the bandages wrapped around her, and Hermione pitied her deeply. The bandages filled with the color red and Hermione let out a tear, but the most important thing was that Strix was still alive and breathing.

"Where are we?" Harry finally asked while Hermione was working on Strix.

"The Forest of Dean, I came here once with my parents," Hermione said and Harry nodded.

"You know we will have to apparate again," Harry warned.

"I know, we can't stay here forever. It was just the first place that came to my mind, I'm sorry. I should have just thought of Hogsmeade," Hermione complained.

"It's alright, don't fret," Harry said, and he placed his arm on her shoulder and patted it. Hermione turned and stared straight into his eyes. She carefully placed Strix on the ground in a blanket she had conjured from her wand.

"Oh Harry!" She cried and leaned into his shoulder and wept. He rubbed her back soothingly and reassuringly. She looked into his eyes with hers still brimming red and she hugged him tightly.

"It's okay Hermione," Harry reassured.

"No it's not! He has the horcrux! I can't believe we already lost it!" Hermione shrieked.

"I'll get it back," Harry said to her.

"Not just you, Harry!" Hermione said breaking away from the hug.

"I don't want you to risk yourself, Hermione," Harry stated. "It's my job. I'm the Chosen One."

"I don't care if you are the damned Chosen One! I'm not losing you too!" Hermione cried, more tears left her eyes and she could not control them. Harry fell silent. "I can't lose you like I lost him."

"I'm not going anywhere, Hermione," Harry assured her and Hermione stared at him still crying. "Ron will always be with us, just like my parents."

"Oh Merlin, I hope so," Hermione wept and Harry hugged her tighter as Strix hooted in her miserable pain.

* * *

><p>Abraxas Malfoy and Tom Riddle had appeared at Malfoy Manor after the apparation. The room was dark and empty, but Abraxas clapped his hands and the lights immediately turned on. It revealed a glamorous, emerald-green living room. It was filled with trinkets and elegant furniture, fit for the rich pure-blood.<p>

"Abraxas is that you," A sweet voice called from a separate room. Tom rolled his eyes, Anastasia Defi, in his opinion was an annoying, bubbly brat who only cared about her good looks. She was quite the sight with her extravagant beauty, but Riddle felt that Abraxas could do much better. She was an airhead who never knew when to shut-up. Abraxas and she were already betrothed and living together after three months of being together, which made Tom believe that they had no class, at all, even for purebloods.

"Yes, it is I, and Tom, you remember Tom," Abraxas called back. The name Tom made Riddle flinch slightly, but no one besides his Death Eaters could know his true name, but he had suspicions that the Brown twins knew, for they knew of one of his horcruxes. Then Riddle heard Anastasia walk closer to the room. Her high-heels' sound traveled widely, and its clip-clopping drove Riddle mad.

Anastasia finally entered the room, with her blonde hair in a tight bun and she was wearing a tight, Slytherin green dress with skinny, black heels and she dared go bare-legged. Her make-up was overly packed, and Riddle doubted that the super pale skin she had, was her real color. She wore lipstick of bright red, and it contrasted horribly with her complexion.

"Oh, Tom," Anastasia extolled happily, "It is so good to see you again, and after such a short time."

She walked over to him and she held out her hands. She leaned in and kissed him on both of his cheeks, leaving marks of her bright, red lipstick and Tom felt that she was going to kiss his lips. Yet, she then walked over to Abraxas and firmly planted a kiss on his lips, leaving excess lipstick on Abraxas' lips.

"Anastasia dear, Tom is going to be staying with us for a while, I'm not sure how long," Abraxas told her coolly.

"I see!" Anastasia exclaimed cheerfully and she winked at Tom who smiled back sweetly, and then she called, "Peony!"

The petite house-elf popped in right before them, with her bright, big eyes showing fear. Her large hands were gripping her rag-cloth and her huge bat-like perked up as Anastasia looked down on her with disgust.

"What can Peony do for Mizzess Anastasia," Peony squeaked.

"Take Tom here to our grandest guest room, Peony," Anastasia ordered and Peony nodded her wrinkled head.

She beckoned Tom to follow her, which he reluctantly did. House-elves disgusted him, just like mudbloods and muggles. He slipped his hand into his pants pocket and felt the horcrux in his grip. He gritted his teeth to prevent himself from releasing his rage in front of Anastasia. She could not know of his real intentions. To her, he was simply an intelligent, good-looking friend of Abraxas's. Peony led him up the many stairs of Malfoy Manor, and she kept turning around to make sure that he was still following her. The house-elf was too innocent, and Tom desperately wished to cast a crucio on her, torture her in some way, or murder her. But he would have to wait a few minutes, until they were out of sight.

They finally reached the third floor landing of the manor and Peony led him down the large, black and green hallway, and he opened one of the guest room doors for him. They both entered the room and Tom settled himself on the grand bed in the middle of the bedroom. Peony dared herself to take a few steps closer to him.

"This is Master Riddle's room. If Master Riddle needs anything call Peony," Peony squeaked with great, trembling fear.

"Yes, I do need one thing," He said suavely, and Peony nodded her head eagerly. "Is there a room here that is great for hiding treasures?"

"Yes, Master Riddle," She said squeakily. "Peony knows the dungeon holds many secrets. Master Malfoy knows them all. Peony knows none. Master Malfoy no tell Peony."

Tom nodded his head and put out his hand to tell Peony to stay. He smirked to himself as Peony shook terribly and eyed Tom curiously. Tom slipped his hand into his pocket and took out Marvolo Gaunt's ring. Peony's eyes grew wide with jealously and simple curiosity.

"Peony, try this ring on," Tom ordered.

"Yes Master Riddle," Peony said with happy eyes as she took the case from Riddle's open hand.

She opened the case and stared inside and she touched the ring. It scorched her hand and she could not help but cry in pain. She still had to keep the ring on her finger since she was told to. Peony was not allowed to disobey. Riddle laughed cruelly and mercilessly as Peony managed to slip it on her hand, which turned a black-like coal before her eyes. She could not help but cry out as the blackness traveled upward on her arm and to her chest. It reached her fragile and tiny legs, and they crumpled into dust. Peony whimpered as her body sank, the pain grieved her, and she wished for death.

Her head became the same black-like coal as the rest of her unfortunate body. Her large eyes stared up at Voldemort as he laughed nastily, but strangely heartily, at her. She died right in front of his cold un-caring eyes as she thought, '_Peony had to obey.'_

Riddle grabbed the horcrux ring from the pile of Peony's crumbled remains as he laughed uncontrollably. He placed the ring back in its case and held it close to himself. It amused him that he could faintly hear Abraxas calling for Peony in the distance.

* * *

><p>Hermione and Harry had stayed the night in The Forest of Dean with poor little Strix. They had made a small house of sticks using their wands. Hermione had thought it best to stay the night before they were to apparate again, especially with Strix's condition. Hermione was able to heal Strix's wing, with some assistance from Harry.<p>

They both had mutually decided upon Hogsmeade, and that once they get there, they would write a letter to Tom the Barman at the Leaky Cauldron, asking him to send their stuff to them. They knew that if they were to return to the Leaky Cauldron themselves, danger would only await them there. The only items that they had with were the book from Florish and Blott's, the sack of money, and the time-traveling device, which Harry luckily still had in his pocket. They knew that Hogsmeade had a Post Office, of which they could use to write to Tom the Barman, instead of sending poor, tiny Strix.

They awoke bright and early in the dawn in their dirty clothes, which became dirty from them sleeping on the ground. Hermione gathered the book and their money while Harry carefully picked up Strix. They gripped onto each other and then they apparated away to Hogsmeade.

They appeared in the middle of the street, right in front of an old wizard who jumped up in fright away from them. He then looked at them angrily and Hermione's eyes softened.

"I'm sorry, sir!" She apologized and the man simply grumbled as he steered away from them. Harry let out a small chuckle and Hermione glared at him angrily, but she calmed as she saw that Strix did not get splinched, and that she was actually sleeping in Harry's arms.

"Strix is alright!" Hermione said cheerfully and Harry smiled.

"Should we go to the Three Broomsticks now?" He asked, still smiling.

"Of course, Harry," Hermione said and they began walking over to the Inn. As they neared the pub they could smell the butterbeer brewing inside. They had not eaten since yesterday, and it made their stomachs fill with desire. Harry opened the door and held it for Hermione and everyone in the pub turned to stare at them. The bar was mainly filled with older men and women, no one their age was in there, and they felt awkward. An older lady was working the bar and she looked at them with her eyebrows creased. She looked so much like an older Madam Rosmerta.

"What can I do for you kids?" She asked in a curious tone.

"We would like a room," Hermione said as she walked closer to the woman with Harry.

"Oh, that will be two sickles for the night and every night onward," The woman said.

"Really?" Harry questioned, remembering Tom the Barman's price of five galleons a night.

"Yep, you kids got it?" The lady said, looking at them both, eagerly awaiting her money. Hermione pulled the two sickles out of the money sack and handed it to the lady. The lady examined the sickles closely and nodded her head at them. "Your room is one floor up and it is labeled with the number two."

"Thank you m'am," Hermione and Harry said in unison.

Hermione added, "Also can we have two butterbeers please?"

The lady nodded her head and she prepared some butterbeers for the two of them. She filled the two glasses to the brim and Harry and Hermione looked on with desire.

"Six knuts," The lady requested as she handed over the two drinks. Hermione pulled the money out of her sack. The lady had no need to examine it and then she beckoned them onward and they rushed upstairs and into their room.

The room was neater than the Leaky Cauldron, and it even had two separate beds for them. There was a desk in the corner of the room and a door leading to a bathroom. The desk had scrolls of parchment and a quill on it, and Hermione could not help but smile.

"I'll write a letter to Tom and then I'll go to the Post Office with Strix," Harry offered, then he sipped his own butterbeer.

"Thanks Harry," Hermione said as she went to relax on one of the comfy beds. She drank her butterbeer as she pulled out _My Travels in Time _by Miles Runcorn, and she opened it to the first chapter and began to read to herself silently.

_My Travels in Time_

_Time travel is a delicate magic to mess with. Time rolls by every day without a care from anyone in the world. They do not realize its temperament, or notice how it can easily break us in two. _

_In 2020, (yes 2020, you read that correctly my dear reader) I discovered an invention when I was eighteen years old while attending Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as a troublesome Hufflepuff. I did not invent it myself, but a dear deceased, whose name I am sorry, but I cannot mention, invented it. I only knew that he did since it said his name on the back of the device. The device lay on the Headmistress' desk, and I could not resist my own temptation. She had left the room and it only looked to me like a small, golden pocket-watch and I simply thought that it would act like a normal clock. The time of the day was 10:21 pm. The device was interestingly enough set to 2020, and I figured I should fix it, for I wished to keep it for myself. I had wrapped its chain around my neck and I changed it to 1021. Then I disappeared from sight, only to reappear right in front of Helga Hufflepuff._

* * *

><p><strong>Thank you for reading!<strong>

**The next chapter is all about Miles' travels in time. I hope you will like it! It was the hardest chapter so far to write! Yes it is already written since I've been re-doing a ton of this story, which is why all of my reviews are probably confusing you.  
><strong>

**-Simply Paranoia  
><strong>


	10. My Travels in Time by Miles Runcorn

**Thank you for reading. I hope that you like this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter!  
><strong>

Chapter 10

My Travels in Time

Time travel is a delicate magic to mess with. Time rolls by every day without a care from anyone in the world. They do not realize its temperament, or notice how it can easily break us in two.

In 2020, (yes 2020, you read that correctly my dear reader) I discovered an invention when I was eighteen years old while attending Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as a troublesome Hufflepuff. I did not invent it myself, but a dear deceased, whose name I am sorry, but I cannot mention, invented it. I only knew that he did since it said his name on the back of the device. The device lay on the Headmistress' desk, and I could not resist my own temptation. She had left the room and it only looked to me like a small, golden pocket-watch and I simply thought that it would act like a normal clock. The time of the day was 10:21 pm. The device was interestingly enough set to 2020, and I figured I should fix it, for I wished to keep it for myself. I had wrapped its chain around my neck and I changed it to 1021. Then I disappeared from sight, only to reappear right in front of Helga Hufflepuff.

At first sight, I knew exactly who the woman was. Her portrait had hung in the Hufflepuff Common Room, where I had mostly stayed my days at Hogwarts when I was not attending my many advanced classes. She was short and a tad plump, with a warm and cheery face. Her whisky red-grey hair was pulled back into a loose bun. No make-up lay upon her face, and so it displayed her natural beauty. She wore a loose, bright yellow dress and her blue eyes shown out of her wide face. They were staring at me curiously, and she was examining my attire, which must have been peculiar to her.

The first words she said to me after she studied me, were, "Who art thou, my son?"

I responded immediately to her kind words. Her voice was light and fully heartfelt. I chose not to lie, so I told her that my name was Miles Runcorn, and she smiled sweetly at me. She questioned me on how I was able to arrive in the Head's Office, and I showed her the device that I had found in the Headmistress' office. It obviously appeared advanced to her and she took it away from me, saying that she would show it to Salazar and she told me to stay in the office.

The Head's office had its same circular shape, but there were no longer the several Headmaster and Headmistress' portraits, and no more trinkets lay on the desk. It was simply bare and blank. I felt frozen, and I did not know what to do. Hufflepuff had already left the room, and so I eventually decided to stay where I was. I waited and I waited, and then the four Heads of Hogwarts entered the room, and I was amazed.

The first to enter the room was undoubtedly Lady Rowena Ravenclaw. She was beautiful yet austere-looking and seemed like a slightly intimidating woman. On top of her long black hair, which flowed on her back, she wore what is known to be The Missing Diadem, and her dark eyes stared at me, scrutinizing me. She wore an elegant blue dress that tightly fit on her, quite unlike Lady Hufflepuff. She muttered to Lady Hufflepuff in her Scottish accent, who had suddenly appeared in the room.

Lord Godric Gryffindor then entered the room. He seemed about over six-feet tall as he towered both Helga and Rowena. He had a full mane of red-orange hair that shaggily lay on his shoulders. He had a full beard which covered most of his face. His clothing was of old-fashioned brown cloth, and his boots were large. His presence unnerved me as he showed no fear with his bright green eyes, nor curiosity as he stared at me.

Lastly, Lord Salazar Slytherin entered the Head's Office. He was much shorter than Lord Gryffindor and his beard was grey, long and thin, which almost fell to the bottom of his black, sweeping robes. His face looked like that of a monkey and it was bald on top. He appeared displeased and angry.

"Who art thou, my boy?" Lord Gryffindor boomed as he had glanced at me.

I stuttered in my response, especially because I was in his great and intimidating presence. I only said my name, for there was nothing more to tell him. He nodded his head at me after I had responded, and Hufflepuff reached up to whisper in his ear. I then realized I was in my Hogwarts Uniform of my time, and I had wondered what they were thinking.

He opened his mouth once more and demanded how old I was.

I had quickly replied that I was only seventeen years old, and he gave me a long stare as I shook under it.

The Four House Leaders nodded their heads and conversed with themselves. I remember having stared at them nervously as they discussed my fate. They eventually turned and faced me again and told me that I was to become a student at the school until the decided exactly what to do with me. They knew that I did not belong in their era.

Lord Gryffindor had gone to get the Sorting Hat and came back to place it on my head. The Sorting Hat talked with me for a bit. He knew that I did not belong in this time, and he did not want to sort me at first. But, he was under Lord Gryffindor's angry stare, so he then immediately proclaimed that I was a Hufflepuff. Lady Helga Hufflepuff had smiled widely at me and approached me. She placed her hand on my shoulder and led me silently to the Hufflepuff dorms where I remained at my days as a student in the wrong time.

* * *

><p>The teachers that taught me at the school included the founders, but there were few others. The founders opened my mind, and explored its depths. Every word that had spoken enlightened me, especially Lady Rowena Ravenclaw. Her knowledge was so great and so vast; she always left me yearning for more. Lord Salazar Slytherin had his prejudiced views, but his skills were excellentt. Lady Helga Hufflepuff was sweet and motherly, just like I pictured her in my true time. She was also smart and quick-witted, and she always stuck by Lord Godric Gryffindor's side. Lord Godric Gryffindor's presence was great and whenever he came by I grew nervous. He towered my stature and he was an imposing and strong figure. He was a person that I could not mess with. I could also tell that the other students around had felt the same way. The founders caused my nerves to go hay-whack. The other teachers in the school were extremely intelligent, but did not compare to the esteemed founders.<p>

My knowledge was expanded from my first lesson with the founders, and I felt that I could actually succeed. The thought of being in an incorrect time no longer concerned me. I had nothing in the future.

Lady Hufflepuff and Lord Slytherin kept the time-traveling device and would, on occasion, ask me questions about what happened to me. I would answer them all truthfully. There was no reason for me to lie.

Lord Slytherin would also talk with me about the future. He constantly talked of his heirs, but I knew better than to reveal the future to him. It would cause terrible results. He was a scary and intimidating man, and so, it was a hard feat to accomplish. I had been saved several times from revealing the future when Ravenclaw came by and scolded him profusely.

In a few weeks after I officially became a student, I received a curious letter. A tiny little owl delivered it to me and it entailed false information, from what I believed.

It said:

Dear Miles,

How is Hogwarts? I hope that you are having an enjoyable time exploring the new in-depth studies that the professors can give you. What house are you in?

Why haven't you written me sweetie? I miss you so much and you promised to write me right before you left for school. It breaks my poor fragile heart.

Anyway, your father is succeeding with our family business. He started it after you left! It is simply called Runcorn's! You should come visit it soon!

Your sister is fine, but she misses you so much! Although, she can't wait until it is her turn to attend your magical school.

That is all for now honey, but please respond to your poor mama.

Love,

Mama

The letter drove me insane from the second I had received it. I had to keep reading it over and over again until I believed that it was real. After I had let the letter sink into my system I brought it to the Head's office. Conveniently they were all in there, and after they read the letter, they were all in the same shock that I was in. They then allowed me permission to seek this mysterious mother, and they would make an excuse for my absence. I packed necessities for my travels and I was off.

I had apparated to many possible locations in my search for Runcorn's. There was no such luck, anywhere. It was as though the place did not exist. Nor did anyone go by the last name Runcorn. The founder's sent for my return, and I came back empty-handed.

In my theory, I believe that time devises an "excuse" for the traveler. The "mother" did not exist, no trace, no sign. So in that case, time makes it that you do exist, but not in entirety. In such case, it creates a false mother. In close, it is completely odd, yet it drove my curiosity to a peak where, that every weekend I searched for this woman. No results were ever found.

The founders, thankfully, agreed with me in my theory and they claimed the search fruitful. But it was only in the fact that a new theory was discovered. This, unfortunately, caused them to have a tighter leash on me. Yet, the "false mother" never again concerned me.

My studies continued with high marks, especially in Arithmancy, which was taught by an old, fraying man. Rumors circled around, talking about his soon retirement from the position. This excited me greatly. I wanted that position. There was nothing else that I would have been able to do during the time period, but teach. The time I searched for the so-called mother was the only time the Founder's let me leave the castle. My presence in this time, they said, would mess up the future in drastic ways. They wanted to keep my existence hidden from everyone, besides those living in the castle. All of them were simply curious teachers and close-minded students.

Although, Lord Salazar Slytherin would constantly try to usurp the tales of the future out of my mouth, Rowena would always catch him. She was fairly strong and intelligent with her diadem always perched high atop her head. Her presence was foreboding, and I could tell that even Slytherin grew timid around the fair women.

During my stay I befriended Lady Helena Ravenclaw, Lady Rowena's fair daughter. She was kind, intelligent, and beautiful to my eyes. From the first time I laid my eyes upon her, she was immediately familiar to me. I felt that I had seen her at Hogwarts in the future. Yet, I could not place her.

I felt like I belonged with her. This made me feel myself to be insane. I had known that I could not stay in that time period, but it could not help my uncontrollable feelings. Lady Helena had another suitor though, yet she revealed to me that she detested him. When she told me that, I don't think my heart had ever soared like that before. The other suitor never again concerned me. He never appeared in my presence.

Lady Hufflepuff at that point blatantly refused to return the device to me. It was detrimental in my eyes to return to the future before my feelings for Lady Helena went too far.

The end of the year came by soon, and the Head's allowed me to stay at the castle, for they did not wish for me to leave, ever. It was boring without the classes, but as the years went by I grew closer to the fair Helena, and more accustomed to the time period. The longer I stayed, the more I wished never to go back.

The Founder's still had not decided what was to become of me. I mainly spoke with Lady Hufflepuff, but she revealed nothing to me. It was all small talk.

The years slowly passed and they drained my spirit. It was as though I was to become nothing, just a nuisance to the founders. Lady Helena still hung about, mostly around me. She always had her ways of brightening my day.

The Arithmancy teacher finally retired after five years after the rumor began. The Founder started their desperate search for a new teacher. That was when I applied to fair Lady Hufflepuff. I remember the wide smile she gave me as she told me to follow her to the Head's office. It took the Founders a long time to decide whether or not I was worthy for the position. After they determined it, they told me that the position was mine. During that time period, I had never been so happy and thrilled.

When the school year began the students filed in before me in my classroom. Having the privilege of teaching these young minds endeared me and I flew straight into the material. I did not care if the students appreciated it or not, but I deemed it necessary that I fill their brains with the intelligence that I could show them. The Founders apparently had received great reports of my teaching, and they praised me for it. Yet, they still would not give me the device after the many years I had already spent with them.

Lady Helena Ravenclaw would constantly intrude upon my lessons and bother my students. She would spare her intelligence with them, and I could tell that they enjoyed her, mainly the boys. After one lesson that she observed she planted a kiss on my unsuspecting lips and she ran away as I was stunned and could not say a word. For days she did not speak with me, and it disappointed me greatly.

Days later I received notice that Lady Ravenclaw wished to have a word with me. Fear stroke my insides immediately. Questions had circled my head, all that related to my relationship with her daughter. Helena had kissed me, had Lady Ravenclaw seen?

The walk to the Head's Office felt like the longest walk I had ever taken. As I opened the door Lady Ravenclaw greeted me with the largest smile I had ever seen on her flawless face. Lady Helena stood somewhat behind her, fiddling with her petite hands nervously.

Lady Ravenclaw then spoke the words that were both enlightening and frightening to me. She had announced that day that she wished to arrange a marriage between Lady Helena and me. I had to agree to Lady Ravenclaw's demands. The grin she formed after I agreed to the proposal increased ten-fold and Helena brightened.

The day of my marriage commenced quicker than I thought it would. Lady Helena never looked more beautiful in my eyes. We married in the Great Hall of Hogwarts and it was filled with the staff and the students, also extended family and friends. We sealed our fateful vows with our second kiss, and the Great Hall erupted into glorious cheers. That night our love was officially completed as we commenced in lover's actions.

The days wore on slowly and returned to its normal pattern after my marriage. The fact that I was now married in this time, I felt that I was never leaving the Founder's eyes.

Lord Slytherin had begun to talk with me more. He would talk about Pureblood Supremacy and his ideas to force the muggle-borns to leave the school. I entertained him with his thoughts, knowing thorugh history about the Chamber of Secrets. I do believe in Pureblood Supremacy, but not as strongly as he does. We talked about it every day, when I told him, "If all does not go well in your own eyes, why bother to stay and shower these fools with your intelligence. You have rights to your ideas, and if they are not respected you may as well leave."

The next day Lord Slytherin was gone, and the other founders were extremely furious. I did not tell them what I had said, as I knew that it was his driving point to actually leave. Over a year's time the Founder's no longer cared about Lord Slytherin, nor did they try to find him.

Eventually, my Lady Helena became pregnant with my child, which was unbelievable to me. Her stomach grew with each passing day. I felt as though I would cry every second of the day. I did not belong in this time and I created a child, of who will never belong, will only be an outsider. He or she will be stuck in this castle for the rest of his or her life.

I discussed with my Lady Helena plans of escape. She ignored my wishes, demanding to stay at the castle with her mother. She was carrying my child; I could not dismiss her or her wishes. She grew angrier with me, which I had hoped was due to her hormones and her pregnancy. She also stayed with her mother, instead of with me. As her stomach grew, the more I felt that she disliked me. Life, simply put, was hard.

Classes occurred just as normally as before. The students were entranced with what I had to say, and the other Founders praised me, except Lady Ravenclaw. I felt that she no longer liked me, that she thought the marriage was a failure, or she heard of my plans of escape. Most likely, my Lady Helena must have told her.

My Lady Helena grew even more distant from then on. I barely saw her during the days, and when I would, she would give me a furtive nod and a grimace of her lips. It disturbed me. She was my wife.

The time came when she had to give birth to the baby. Lady Ravenclaw called me to her chambers that fateful day. I was forced to wait outside the bed chambers as I heard my Lady Helena scream in pain inside the room. I waited and I waited, without any patience.

Finally I heard crying and I slammed the door open and I immediately ran inside the bed chambers. My Lady Helena was crying and matrons surrounding her had their heads down in sorrow. Lady Ravenclaw was weeping and my heart pounded furiously. My Lady Helena was holding no baby in her arms.

The first words I was able to say were, "Where is my child?"

Helena, Lady Ravenclaw and the matrons stared at me as some of them cried their tears. One matron spoke, as none of the others could and said, "The baby was never to have existed. It was never alive."

"Where's the body?" I demanded out of the matron angrily. My world was tumbling.

"We got rid of it," The matron nervously said as she fiddled with her thumbs. The ladies continued weeping as I remained standing in pure shock.

Finally everyone went silent as Lady Ravenclaw hushed them. She walked up to me ever so slowly and spoke those fateful words, "The others and I will discuss your fate."

Then she left the chamber as my Lady Helena continued weeping her sorrows. I went to hug her, but she shunned me away and I was forced to leave the bed chambers. After that I never saw my Lady Helena again.

According to my theory, I believe that time travelers cannot have children. And that if a body if conceived in the womb, it is destined to never be alive. Time most likely did not want to mess with the timeline. Time most likely messes with the life where you do not belong. Or, in a string of fate, it is mere coincidence that it occurred between Helena and me, and that the baby was only a stillborn. In conclusion, time may possibly severely mess with the lives of the time traveler in the fact of love and children.

Later that night I was called to the Founder's Office and all four stood there somberly, especially Lady Ravenclaw. Lady Hufflepuff sighed and reached into her pocket as my body filled with anxiety.

She pulled out the device, after many years of my wanting it so desperately back. I reached out my hand and she placed it on my palm. She closed my fingers around it and squeezed my hand for a single second.

Then she said those words, "We have kept you all these years for curiosity stroke us greatly when we laid our eyes upon you The mysteries of your travel aroused us. On behalf of all of us, I am sorry. Please return home. You ruined Lady Helena. We shall ought to start a rumor of thou death. Now go."

I stood for a second, and the touch of the device was strange. It obviously had been tampered with. With one last glance at the Four Great Founders I wrapped the device around my neck and fiddled with the controls.

I disappeared from that time and reappeared in another strange time. 1846.

My Second Travel in Time

I had opened my eyes—

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><p>Hermione stopped reading and shut the book close. Everything made sense once again. Everything Runcorn said must have been true. The device must be the same as the one she and Harry had used, Hermione concluded. Excitement soared throughout her body and she felt pumped and thrilled. More text was in the book, but Hermione dismissed it for now. It was detrimental to her that she would have to speak with Harry, although Harry had yet to return from Hogsmeade.<p>

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><p><strong>Thank you for reading!<strong>

**Next chapter will be coming soon!  
><strong>

**It will lead into more action!  
><strong>

**Please review and story alert!  
><strong>

**Love  
><strong>

**-Simply Paranoia  
><strong>


	11. New Plan Thanks to the Bimbo

**Thank you all so much for reading. All of the previous chapters have been changed and updated, etc etc. I removed one chapter, so if I didn't change anything, this would have been chapter 12. Sorry for the very very long update! I hope you enjoy. **

**After this chapter, there's is going to be a lot more action, so stay tuned until then!  
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**Shameless pimping: Be sure to check out my other story, The Fate of Her if you like this!  
><strong>

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><p>Chapter 11<p>

Hermione ran out of The Three Broomsticks in a hurry to find Harry at the Post Office. The blistering cold air caused her body to shiver, and the wind blew her wild, bushy hair over her shoulders. She wrapped her arms around her chest tightly to keep the warmth attached to her body. All of her clothes were back at The Leaky Cauldron, possibly ruined by Riddle during his previous, furious rampage. She shuddered at the thought of what state that room is in, and Tom the Barman's reaction to it. The poor man would have to clean up the whole entire room, all by himself. The thought of Riddle angered her further. He had no right to mess with her life, this time or in her real time. He had no right to become the cruel bastard he turns into when he becomes older. She knew he deserved to die before he killed so many innocent people, because of his nonsensical beliefs about muggles and muggle-borns.

Up ahead, she saw the post office a little far away from the Three Broomsticks, and she noticed Harry emerging from it. She could not help but wonder why he had taken so long in the Post Office. She only knew it was Harry because of his recognizable, messy jet-black hair. He turned to the right, so he noticed her immediately and he gave her a quick wave and a half-smile. Suddenly, Hermione felt a tap on her shoulder, and out of surprise she turned to face it.

"Hermione!" The annoying voice exclaimed. It was Anastasia Defi. Abraxas Malfoy's fiancé, and an annoying brat who could possibly ruin everything for her. Anastasia had gone to Beauxbatons, the school Hermione lied about going to with Harry. It could be possible that Anastasia will figure out that they never attended the school. Although the chances were very low because she was very dim-witted, and would most likely never figure it out. That fact greatly relieved Hermione, so she did not feel the need to worry Harry about it.

"Oh, hi, Anastasia," Hermione murmured unenthusiastically. If only Merlin could get her out of talking to this bimbo.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, but Hermione did not have the chance to answer for Anastasia kept on talking, "I'm here to get my wedding dress at the dress robes shop for my wedding this Friday."

Anastasia had emphasized the word wedding very happily and grandly. Then Hermione commented, "Oh, you and Abraxas are tying the knot."

"Yes, wait did I invite you to the wedding?" Anastasia asked, emphasizing wedding once again. Anastasia's spirit began to be chewed away because she forgot to invite Hermione. She had gone over the guest list several times; Hermione must have just slipped out of her mind.

"Oh no, but it's-," Hermione started. The wedding could mean another encounter with Riddle, which could end up in her death. Of course, Anastasia had to interrupt her protest.

Anastasia quickly said, emphasizing many words while she spoke, "Oh you must come, it is this Friday at the manor, starting at 12:00. Your brother can come too. What's his name? So I can put you two on the list."

"Harry Brown," Hermione immediately replied. As Hermione thought about it, this wedding would allow entrance to Malfoy Manor, where they could possibly recover a horcrux and sneak into their library to steal some books. The Manor was known to hold many dark wizarding books that one would not find. Draco Malfoy would always go on and on about how his family had many first-edition books, and the last copy of some. She only hoped that Draco had not been lying about this.

"Fantastic!" Anastasia exclaimed, "Well, I must be going now. I need to get my dress, but I will see you Friday!"

"Bye," Hermione replied politely. She was bubbling with excitement as she ran to Harry to tell him everything. He was still standing in front of the post office, as he was staring at her and Anastasia's encounter. He waved as she ran over and she paused right in front of him. He looked at her, waiting for her to start speaking.

She started off by saying, "Harry, the book, I read some of it."

"And?" He questioned, so Hermione looked around herself, seeing if anyone was overhearing and she quickly casted the _Muffliato _charm around her and Harry.

"Well, that letter from the so-called mother, it's fake, she doesn't exist. Time made an excuse for us apparently," Hermione said gleefully. "And I also believe how he traveled back in time is the same way we did, meaning that we might have succeeded, or the complete opposite. Runcorn really just talked about his time in the past. There weren't many theories, at least from what I read."

"Well that's good, I guess. It's just, that was the least of our worries with a mini Dark Lord running around, the horcruxes and saving the world. But, anything else?" Harry said, and Hermione felt a bit insulted. She had spent a while reading this book while Harry had just been roaming around Hogsmeade. Usually she liked to take the time soaking in a book, but that section of the book had to be a speed read. They had needed answers, fast. She got them; she was the one who solved the so-called "mother" mystery, not Harry.

"Harry, I don't want to hear that sass. Yes, I said sass; boys can have sass too and close your mouth. And not particularly, but well you saw that woman I was talking with, she is Draco's Grandfather, Abraxas's fiancé," Hermione responded.

"Oh, what'd she say then?" Harry questioned, getting over the fact Hermione blatantly called him sassy.

"She invited us to her wedding with Draco's Grandfather. This gives us access to Malfoy Manor, where we could possibly steal the horcrux back. I imagine that Riddle has it, and he might be staying at the manor. He wants it close to him now that he knows we know of it," Hermione replied, almost bursting with joy. Harry filled instantly with excitement.

"Just one problem though, the manor will be full of future mindless Death Eaters, and Riddle wants to kill us. How the hell will we possibly be able to get the horcrux with them wandering around," Harry said, trailing off.

"How the hell do we do anything, Harry," Hermione commented, and Harry's facial expression showed that he completely agreed with her. It was a miracle that they had accomplished anything in the past, technically the future, but with their combined bravery, knowledge and skill; they could do almost anything together. Just one piece of the puzzle was forever missing. Ron. Any thought of him caused pain to soar through Hermione's heart, and tears to form in her eyes. She had to brush the thought of him away, and she gained control of her feelings once again.

"Good point, and Hermione I think we should get the locket horcrux, today, and try to learn how to use fiendfyre, if we don't do it soon, it will never get done," Harry suggested. "We may as well get it now, we know where it is, and if we can figure out how to do fiendfyre it's done, gone, destroyed. Then we are one step closer to going to a future with everyone still alive."

"What if everyone isn't alive," Hermione pondered out loud. She had been contemplating this mere fact for a while. She knew that changing the timeline could end drastically. She had learned all of this during her third year when she had the time turner. They could possibly prevent their own births, and many other births. Anything and everything could go wrong with time travel. People have accidently murdered their own future or past selves. It could be possible that with one action, Hermione could stop Harry from being born. Lily and James, his parents, could decide to marry later, since the impending war is no longer a threat if Voldemort does not exist. Or, another Dark Lord could rise.

"What do you mean?" Harry immediately retorted and Hermione sighed.

"It's just what if we kill him successfully, but we prevent other things from happening to. Time travel is a very delicate branch of magic. Dumbledore should have known the risks when he sent us to this time, and I should have realized and stopped us from going. It's stupid, ridiculous! And the blasted Dark Lord wants to kill us here, as much as he wants to kill us in the future! We could stop ourselves from being born!" Hermione ranted.

"Dumbledore sent us here, he must have thought about that possibility," Harry tried to reason.

"Don't you think Dumbledore, may he rest in peace, was being selfish?" Hermione countered. "He decided to make this risk, and we didn't take enough time to actually think about what could happen. People had just died in front of us, it seemed like the best plan in the world to us then. Sure, this sounds like the miracle plan, but in reality, it could kill us all. We could ruin the time frame completely. These people, they know what we look like. And in the future, who knows what could happen."

"I suppose you are right, but it was Dumbledore who told us to do this. I have faith in him Hermione, and you should too," Harry lectured.

"Dumbledore's dead Harry!" Hermione exclaimed, causing Harry to glare at her angrily. "It is fully possibly that he might not have written that letter. He _never _spoke to you about this, just slipped Mrs. Weasley a letter. It's a little suspicious you have to admit. For all we know, Voldemort himself could have written it. We might have been the ones to let him become the Dark Lord!"

"Mrs. Weasley is extremely trustworthy, and she definitely knew when to give it to us," Harry snapped.

"When some of her children and husband were _dead!_ _Dead_, Harry! We can't allow the dead to influence our decisions!" She yelled. Harry remained silent as he stared at her. Studying her expressions, and she held her face in the same way as when she finished yelling. She was very thankful for the creation of the muffliato spell, which of course, could be prevented from being created by Severus Snape if she killed an ant.

Harry continued to just stare at her, with a loss for words. Hermione softened her expression when she noticed that he was hurting just as much as she was. She realized that he never thought about these possibilities before, and the more he thought about it, the more doubt was developing in his system. He was thinking, and believing that Hermione was correct. For all they knew, this mission could be a total bust or a complete fraud. Hermione seriously considered going home. With the device "Dumbledore" gave them, it was fully possible, unlike with a Time Turner. Hermione did not know what was worse: living in a time where Voldemort is working secretly, wanting to kill you, or a time where he was out in the open, still wanting to kill you.

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><p>It had been two days since then, and there were two days left to the Malfoy's Wedding Celebration. Hermione and Harry's biggest priority became learning fiendfyre. They had gotten up the nerve to apparate into Knockturn Alley to find a book on this dark magic. There were no longer any other ways to destroy horcruxes except this one option. Hermione had found a book on it successfully in one of Knockturn Alley's book stores. They luckily did not encounter Riddle, otherwise they would have been in serious trouble.<p>

For the past two days they have been apparating to open and empty fields in order to practice this magic without hurting anyone after they had recovered the book. It turned out to be easy to conjure, but difficult to control. It was a very wild curse. All they needed to destroy the horcruxes was the fire, control was not necessary unless the fire was trying to hurt another being. In order to protect themselves against each other's fire, they had practiced in different areas, and observed each other from a far distance. Sadly, Harry was still a bit angry at Hermione for the words she had said, so he would be brutally honest about the weaknesses of her fire. It caused her to freak out many times and yell at him for being too cruel. He would not say anything in return.

Today they planned to finally retrieve the locket horcrux and destroy it. Hopefully it was in the cave; otherwise they would have to return to the beginning of their search. They knew that in the seventies Kreacher was sent to the cave to be used by Voldemort to test the protections for the horcrux. Harry and Hermione hoped that the locket was in the cave, but it would be protected by fewer defenses.

It was bright and early in the morning when they apparated in front of the cave. They had gotten ready the night before. Harry had lectured Hermione on what to expect. After much fighting they finally agreed that Hermione would give the blood at the entrance and that Harry would possibly drink the potion, if it was there. The reason for Harry drinking the potion was because Hermione was surprisingly better at fiendfyre than he was, allowing her to protect them against the Inferi more easily if they were to touch the water.

Hermione breathed in the salty air around them. The ocean reminded her of calmer and simpler times. Its waves had a pattern chosen by the moon where they lived in never-ending peace and tranquility. It was what she wanted in the world, for it to be a Utopia of peace that will never end, like the moon and the ocean, with only spread out and fewer troubles, which would be the tsunamis.

Harry tapped her shoulder to alert her to pay attention as they had reached the front of the cave. There was nothing at all sealing its entrance. There were no rocks like Harry had described to her before.

"Harry… Why is there no covering of some sort?" Hermione immediately demanded out of him.

"I don't know!" He yelled angrily, both of his hand landed on the top of his head and he gripped his hair out of frustration.

"He just must not have hidden yet, or it isn't a horcrux yet," Hermione suggested, and she patted his shoulder in an attempt to calm him down.

"Why is this so just horrible," Harry groaned, dropping his hands to his sides. "Why couldn't Dumbledore have done this!"

"He's dead Harry," Hermione answered.

"Not in this time!" Harry retorted, and both of them paused for a minute. "But before he died, he must have written that damned note," Harry snapped.

"He's always made us do this Harry. I don't want to say this, but, damn him!" Hermione complained.

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><p>Abraxas Malfoy, Anastasia Defi, and Tom Riddle ate silently in Malfoy Manor's grand dining room. Abraxas and Anastasia were nervous to start a conversation with their guest. Abraxas had spoken to Anastasia in secret about Tom Riddle and their activities during the Hogwarts years. He trusted his future wife, and he knew that a marriage was not real if you were not open with one another. She was angry, but she did not judge him for it, and she was sworn to secrecy by Abraxas. He had told her that once the first crucio was cast by Tom, there was no turning back to being just a normal Slytherin.<p>

In his eyes she had to know, since Tom's power would eventually grow as time went by. She would have to be forcefully drawn into his darkness.

"Delicious food as always Abraxas," Tom said, forcing discussion upon the three of them.

"Thank you, Tom," Abraxas uttered loudly.

"Anastasia," Tom drawled with a cold smirk, looking at her. "How was your day?"

"Oh, me!" She said stunned, suddenly pressing a hand against her heart. "I went to Hogsmeade and got my dress for the wedding."

"Lovely, see anyone there?" Tom asked, pestering her.

"Well, yes, not many people, but I saw your girlfriend," Anastasia replied.

"My girlfriend?" He questioned curiously, and Abraxas looked up from his food to get a better look at this exchange.

"Hermione Brown," Anastasia simply said. "If she's not your girlfriend, I'm sorry, it's just you took her to dinner and-."

Tom filled with hatred at that name spewing out of Anastasia's mouth. They had been so close to capturing that girl and her brother. He needed to find her for answers. He never let the horcrux ring leave his finger after that incident, and he took a quick look at it, making sure that it was still there, resting on his finger. Knowing now that she was in Hogsmeade, most likely with her petulant brother, he had a chance to finally find them and capture them both for questioning. His wand was dying to use the Cruciatus on the two siblings. He had to admit that they had some power in them with their spells that he has seen. Yet, he knows he can easily conquer them with just one single spell.

"Really," Tom finally responded through his gritted teeth. "How is she?"

"Fine, just fine, I even invited her to the Wedding, so you will be able to see her then," Anastasia quickly responded, in fear that if she did not, he would curse her. Abraxas had reassured her that Tom would not do so, but Anastasia did not want to take any chances, especially since this man was a rising Dark Lord.

"Splendid," Tom commented, forcefully hiding his anger. It is against better judgment for the two siblings to attend the wedding, but if they do, Tom will be ready for them.

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><p><strong>Thank you for reading!<strong>

**Love,  
><strong>

**Simply Paranoia  
><strong>


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